Does Truth Matter?

Abstract

On the political level many seem to agree that democracy doesn’t need foundations, nor are its citizens expected to discuss the worth or truth of their comprehensive conceptions of the good life. And yet we still call upon ‘truth’ when we participate in defining the basic structure of our society and argue why our opinions, beliefs and preferences need to be taken seriously. We do not think that our views need to be taken into account by others because they are our views, but because we think they are true. If in a democratic society citizens have to deal with the challenge of affirming their claims as true, the precise relationship between truth and democracy needs to be analyzed. Does truth matter to democracy and if so, what is the place of truth in democratic politics? How can citizens affirm the truth of their claims and accept - at the same time - that their truth is just one amongst many? In Does Truth Matter? leading academics in the fields of philosophy, sociology and political science focus on the role the public sphere plays in answering these pressing questions. They try to give a comprehensive answer to these questions from the perspective of the main approaches of contemporary democratic theory: deliberative democracy, political pragmatism and liberalism.