Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into
For
own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods
our
college campuses or places of worship or our
or
media feeds, surrounded by people who
social
like us and share the same political outlook
look
never challenge our assumptions. The rise
and
naked partisanship, increasing economic and
of
stratication, the splintering of our media
regional
a channel for every taste—all this makes this
into
sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And
great
we become so secure in our bubbles
increasingly,
we accept only information, whether true or not,
that
ts our opinions, instead of basing our opinions
that
the evidence that’s out there.
on
last decade has witnessed repeated
The
to a post-truth politics, in which
references
is framed by appeals to emotion
discourse
of policy details or facts. Political
instead
are able to continue with talking points
figures
when media, experts and opposing
even
have provided proof that contradicts
figures
The internet is commonly invoked as
them.
enabled this political culture to gather
having
with post-truthers being said to
momentum,
political outcomes in Brazil, India,
influence
the United States and the United
Russia,
“Post-truth” was made the Oxford
Kingdom.
2016 Word of the Year owing to its
Dictionaries’
in the context of Brexit and the US
prevalence
election.
Presidential
some have claimed the term is
However,
For example a New Scientist article
misleading.
“a cynic might wonder if politicians are
stated:
any more dishonest than they used
actually
be” (New Scientist 2016). Others believe that
to
confuses the ideas of empirical and ethical
it
whereas what is actually happening
judgments,
a rejection of expert opinions in favour of
is
political signalling. Politically
values-based
figures have also criticized the
conservative
use of the term by liberal commentators
selective
attack what are matters of ideology, not fact
to
2016) and for selectively protecting
(Young
facts” (Mantzarlis 2016).
“liberal
is a great irony of our time that we do not
It
agree about whether we live in a post-truth
even
because the political right accuses the
world,
left of making it up. TOK exists to help
political
with this very dilemma. We can and should
us
to know truth and navigate problems of
strive
and resist succumbing to views such
knowledge,
“nothing is true and everything is possible”,
as
by the way, is the title of a memoir of life
which,
Russia under Vladimir Putin.
in
course, it cannot be claimed that large sections
Of
organized society have suddenly given up on,
of
stopped caring about, truth. Post-truth refers
or
a civil discourse where expertise and “facts”
to
to be insufficient to sway beliefs; where
appear
appear to choose their experts and
individuals
others as politically and ideologically
dismiss
There is some behavioural research to
biased.
that facts alone do not change deeply
suggest
beliefs.
held
Mantzarlis, Poynter Institute’s head of
Alexios
stated the following.
fact-checking,
news became a catch-all term to mean anything
Fake
we don’t particularly like to read.
that
in this chapter we explore how news media
Later
prioritize impartiality can understate the
that
scientific consensus, leaving the
overwhelming
with what appears to be a scientific debate
public
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
II.2 Is there a post-truth public sphere?
(Obama 2017)
(Mantzarlis quoted in Kestler-D’Amours 2017)
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