[BOOK][B] Truth and truthfulness: An essay in genealogy

B Williams - 2010 - degruyter.com
B Williams
2010degruyter.com
What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if
we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than
Bernard Williams. Writing with his characteristic combination of passion and elegant
simplicity, he explores the value of truth and finds it to be both less and more than we might
imagine.Modern culture exhibits two attitudes toward truth: suspicion of being deceived (no
one wants to be fooled) and skepticism that objective truth exists at all (no one wants to be …
What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than Bernard Williams. Writing with his characteristic combination of passion and elegant simplicity, he explores the value of truth and finds it to be both less and more than we might imagine.
Modern culture exhibits two attitudes toward truth: suspicion of being deceived (no one wants to be fooled) and skepticism that objective truth exists at all (no one wants to be naive). This tension between a demand for truthfulness and the doubt that there is any truth to be found is not an abstract paradox. It has political consequences and signals a danger that our intellectual activities, particularly in the humanities, may tear themselves to pieces.
De Gruyter