Philosophy: Truth and Human Sciences Flashcards

Flashcards covering the philosopher Nefertiti Kafando's lecture on the paradox of human sciences, the nature of truth, sophistry, relativism, and the political implications of fake news and post-truth.

Human Sciences

A group of academic disciplines including Psychology, Sociology, Ethnology, Anthropology, History, Linguistics, and Economic Sciences.

Paradox of Human Sciences

The difficulty of producing objective knowledge of humans because the human being is a thinking subject who cannot be experimented on in the same way as in hard sciences.

Psychology and Sociology

Considered young disciplines compared to philosophy.

Philosophy

Literally the 'love of knowledge' and the search for meaning; an ancient discipline dating back to the 5th century B.C. that does not claim to be a science.

Goal of Human Sciences

Understanding human behavior, taking emotions into account, and focusing on subjectivity.

Socrates

A philosopher whose objective was to destroy the pretensions of those who claim to know everything.

Ethos

The root of 'ethics,' representing the goal of reflecting on one's practices and behavior.

Two contemporary questions

1. What is truth? 2. The self-image: Identity or illusion?

Ponce Pilate

A biblical figure used as an example of an act of disinterest or cowardice regarding truth ('washing his hands' of the matter).

Conception of Truth (Reality)

The idea that truth is established when a discourse is conformable to reality, such as 'the sky is blue'.

Judicial Truth

A truth that is not immediate or obvious; it requires construction through investigations, evidence, arguments, and debates.

Characteristics of Science

Proceeds via experiments and contradictory tests that enrich or modify theories.

Evolution of Truth

In science, truth is always discussable and variable rather than an absolute, unique thing imposed upon us.

Opinion

What truth becomes if everyone is allowed to affirm their own truth however they wish without objective basis.

Critique

A means to deepen or defend truth, but it can also become an enemy of truth if it serves as a total negation of knowledge.

Fake News

False information that destroys social life and produces replacement or 'emitted' truths.

Alternative Truth

A critique often directed at scientific authority or experts, starting from the principle that they are manipulators hindering subjective freedom of expression.

Adequation

When a discourse matches a state of fact; the basic definition of truth in discourse.

Truths of Reason

Truths verifiable by our own reason alone, such as mathematical or logical truths (e.g., $2+2=4$).

Truths of Fact

Information impossible to verify by pure reasoning, based instead on the discourse of others (e.g., 'Rome is the capital of Italy').

Logic

Provides a criterion for truth by checking if a discourse is in accord with the rules of thought.

Formal Truth

A discourse that is logically coherent and follows the rules of reasoning but may still be materially false.

Material Truth

A discourse whose content matches reality, regardless of its logical form.

Orator

One who produces beautiful discourse with the aim of persuading an audience.

Sophist

One who produces the appearance of truth and uses capable arguments (sophisms) to deceive others rather than find the truth.

Sophism

A profession of speech (comparable to 'lawyers' in the text) used to impose an opinion and win over an adversary.

Plato's view of Sophists

Describes them as 'chameleons' who pretend to know everything and imitate the sage while knowing nothing.

Protagoras

Associated with the idea that every truth is relative to the individual holding it.

Relativism

The doctrine that truth exists only from a particular viewpoint (person or group), effectively destroying the distinction between true and false.

Ambivalence of Relativism

It can lead to 'Peace' (tolerance of all opinions) or 'War' (a battle of discourse where the strongest speaker wins).

Complotiste (Conspiracy Theorist)

Someone who claims to search for truth and explain causes while actually using lies to denounce perceived lies.

William Lutz

Defines Fake News as lies that pretend to denounce other lies and conspiracies.

Maurizio Ferraris

Philosopher who compares the attitudes of Noam Chomsky and Donald Trump regarding truth.

Noam Chomsky

An intellectual whose search for truth is based on a scientific ideal and is intended for everyone against the power of mass media.

Partisan Truth

A truth that is anti-scientific and turned against intellectual elites, often fabricated for a specific camp (e.g., Trump's approach).

Fabrication of New Truth

The most important difference between critical intellectuals and 'alternative' politicians; replacing one opinion with a manufactured reality.

Object of Faith

The function of an alternative fact; it is something one adheres to to join a camp, creating division between believers and rejecters.

Effect of Alternative Facts

They act as a 'revelation' that unveils the supposed lie of established discourse and offer a sense of liberation.

Politically Correct

Viewed by some as a system of limits or censorship from which people seek to liberate themselves by saying anything.

Tsunami Communicationnel

The viral circulation of lies through technology that creates massive pressure for public adhesion.

Deepfake

Technology that causes the public adhension to false information to explode by making fake visuals seem real.

Conformism

A psychological mechanism where people doubt their own view and follow an information because many others support it.

Authentic Liar

The description of Trump as someone who uses lies and improvisation but gives the impression of saying what he thinks without a filter.

Aristotle's Contingency

The belief that human affairs have no exact science or single truth, but rather multiple options requiring persuasion and choice.

Realism (Political)

The understanding that in human affairs, one must choose and persuade others because the domain is uncertain and changing.

Machiavelli's Realism

The view that politics is a theater of appearances where mastery of image, lying, and hiding are essential weapons for a leader.

Traditional Lie

A lie that functions as a minority exception in a society where people generally believe in truth.

Modern Lie

As defined by Hannah Arendt, it consists of denying or changing established facts upon which everyone previously agreed.

Hannah Arendt

Philosopher who wrote about the difference between traditional lies and the globalized/mediated lies of totalitarian propaganda.

Negationism

The denial of historical facts, such as the existence of concentration camps, even when survivors are present.

1984 by George Orwell

A novel used to illustrate the ruin of individual thought and the psychological destruction caused by the denial of objective truth.

Myriam Revault d'Allonnes

Author who writes about the 'weakness of truth' and the link between the post-truth world and Orwell's 1984.

Axiom

A basic truth or principle used as a foundation for reasoning.

Destruction of the Self

The result of losing a common, shared world based on objective truth, as humans need shared reality to ensure the validity of their own thoughts.

Freedom of Thought

A value that actually depends on objective truth; without truth, any opinion can be imposed, and freedom disappears.

Condition of Liberty

Objective truth is not a limit to freedom but its necessary condition.

Post-truth

A political context where groups or individuals try to impose opinions by falsifying common reality and rejecting science.

Sociology

A human science that, along with psychology, is considered a relatively young discipline.

Anthropology

A discipline listed under the major branches of the human sciences.

History

One of the grandes disciplines categorized as a human science in the preamble.

Linguistics

A human science discipline, exemplified by figures like Noam Chomsky.

Subject

Referring to man as an 'être pensant' (thinking being), which prevents him from being studied like an object in hard sciences.

Subjectivity

A key interest of human sciences, aiming to grasp the reasons behind human behavior and emotions.

Freedom of Spirit

A value defended by philosophy through questioning and denunciations of 'pretended' savants.

Ethnology

A listed discipline within the notion of human sciences.

Economic Sciences

One of the major disciplines included in the study of human sciences.

Science of Justice

In Plato's view, the science that should guide politics to construct truth and a good society.

Common World

A shared reality and history that is compromised when truth is replaced by dividing beliefs.

Clivant (Divisive)

A characteristic of alternative facts, as they create an opposition between those who believe them and those who don't.

Viralité (Virality)

The process by which information gains weight and attention simply by being relayed through technology, regardless of its truth.