ABOUT THIS BOOK

A critique of the concept of truth presupposed by the post-truth debate—and a bold new vision for a more pluralistic citizenry.

We say that we live in a “post-truth” era because disinformation threatens our confidence in the existence of a shared public world. Affirming objective truth may, therefore, seem necessary to save democracy. According to political theorist Linda M. G. Zerilli, such affirmation can stifle political debate and silence dissent. In fact, Zerilli argues that the unqualified insistence on objective truth is as dangerous for democracy as denying it.

Drawing on Arendt, Foucault, and Wittgenstein, A Democratic Theory of Truth challenges the concept of truth presupposed by the post-truth debate. It argues that we, the people, have an essential role in discovering and evaluating any truth relevant to the political realm. The result is a striking defense of plurality, dissent, and opinion in contemporary democratic societies.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Linda M. G. Zerilli is the Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of Chicago. She is the author of three books, including A Democratic Theory of Judgment, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

REVIEWS

“A sustained attack on the idea that there is objective truth, which at once compels the assent of and liberates those who discover it. . . . Using the later work of Ludwig Wittgenstein as a guide, Zerilli discusses two thinkers who challenge the appearance/reality binary, Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault. The author makes a strong case for understanding their work as serving a humble realism rather than Plato’s grandiose realism.”

— Choice

“Zerilli aims to reframe the post-truth debate by supplementing calls for fact-checking the lies of authoritarian or outright fascist politicians with a notion of truth-telling as caring for our common reality. While truthtelling must, therefore, be ‘realistic in spirit’ (128), the reality cared for does not refer to a scientifically justified ‘absolute conception of the world’ (128) nor to a mere social or discursive construct. Truth-telling as critical care for reality returns us to ‘the ordinary,’ to the sphere of our everyday actions and thoughts . . . Zerilli is right.”

— Political Theory

“A Democratic Theory of Truth is a powerful work that reconceptualizes truth and realism in terms of ordinary language and citizenship. Zerilli’s radical and illuminating use of ordinary language philosophy mobilizes Ludwig Wittgenstein, Cora Diamond, and Stanley Cavell to defend a realistic orientation to the world that allows us to face reality—the most difficult but perhaps the only way now to defend truth and democracy.”

— Sandra Laugier, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

“In this groundbreaking book, Zerilli offers a much-needed reassessment of the ‘post-truth’ debate, criticizing both truth denialists and apologists of objective truths. Brilliantly drawing from Arendt, Foucault, and Wittgenstein, she shows that the value and force of truth depend on us, democratic citizens. With exceptional clarity, this masterful work reshapes our way of thinking about the relationships between truth and democracy. A must-read.”

— Daniele Lorenzini, University of Pennsylvania

“Democracy demands commitment to truth. But what if the most obvious threats to truth today, from cynical demagogues to AI chatbots, were actually nourished by a dangerous overestimation of what truth can do for politics? In this lucid, sober, and timely book, Zerilli combines acute political intelligence and theoretical sophistication to present a powerfully restrained account of truth as a value within rather than above the irreducibly plural field of political opinion.”

— Patchen Markell, Cornell University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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