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What Is Truth For?
Series: What Is It For?
Brief Description
Truth is for striving at, for the sake of good collective action. With new media technologies, it seems that falsehoods can spread faster and further than ever. And with new norms of public discourse, while being caught in a lie would once end a politician's career,...
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What Is Truth For?
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Description
Truth is for striving at, for the sake of good collective action.
With new media technologies, it seems that falsehoods can spread faster and further than ever. And with new norms of public discourse, while being caught in a lie would once end a politician's career, today it is shrugged off, which has profound implications for democracy. Does the truth no longer matter?
This optimist's guide to truth argues that the problem of truth is an ancient one. It contends that truth is the best device we have for coordinating collective decisions and actions, and that, while the truth itself is perpetually elusive, the concept of truth as a target ideal to strive for is supremely useful. If we do not strive for truth, our decisions will be risky at best, often foolish and sometimes disastrous. This long-standing problem will not be solved with modern technology or regulations, but with measures we must all apply: mindfulness, humility, cooperation and optimism.
Series: What Is It For?
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What Are Zoos For?
Are zoos an anachronism in the 21st century when we can watch animals in their natural habitat, close-up from our couches without worrying about cruelty? Should they go the way of other bygone era 'spectacles' and 'attractions' that we now regard as barbaric? There are vocal campaigners and activists who believe so. Heather Browning and Walter Veit disagree, but they...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Drug Policy For?
There is general agreement about the need to criminalise the production, sale, and possession of certain drugs, yet the costly international apparatus surrounding this is failing. But why do we criminalise some substances and not others? Is the purpose misguided, or the methods, or both? Julia Buxton looks at how our current drug control regime came about from the first...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Truth For?
Truth is for striving at, for the sake of good collective action. With new media technologies, it seems that falsehoods can spread faster and further than ever. And with new norms of public discourse, while being caught in a lie would once end a politician's career, today it is shrugged off, which has profound implications for democracy. Does the truth...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Veganism For?
Across the world, an increasing number of people are turning to veganism, changing not just their diets, but completely removing animal products from their lives. For some, this is prompted by concerns over animal ethics; for others, it's a response to the part played by animal agriculture in the climate crisis or an attempt to improve their own health. What...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Cybersecurity For?
How will protecting our digital infrastructure shape our future? Cybersecurity is one of the key practical and political challenges of our time. It is at the heart of how modern societies survive and thrive, yet public understanding is still rudimentary: media portrayals of hoodie-wearing hackers accessing the Pentagon don't convey its complexity or significance to contemporary life. What Is Cybersecurity...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is History For?
History, suggests Robert Gildea, "is a battlefield." Questions of power, rights, identity, and nationhood always have an ancient and modern historical dimension, and countries still go to war over their interpretation of history. Yet accounts of history are just as prone to fabrication as fake news, so how can we tell good history from bad? How can history be critical,...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Humanism For?
Religious belief is declining in many parts of the world, yet people still seek purpose in their lives and guidance on how to navigate life's challenges. Humanism is a broad tradition of thought and action that encourages thinking for oneself about what to believe and accommodating diversity. What is the purpose of humanism in an increasingly secular world? Written by...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is the Welfare State For?
Most states in the world make some provision for the welfare of their citizens. Every state engages with health care provision, almost all provide education services, and, after an explosion of interest in recent years, a substantial majority now have national schemes in place for cash assistance. Welfare states matter for people's lives – but there is little agreement about...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is Journalism For?
What is at stake when journalism is threatened? Does society still need journalists? Journalism faces multiple threats today all over the world: economic decline, online disinformation, the rise of AI, authoritarian curbs on freedom of the press, and violence against journalists. In such a climate, it is more urgent than ever to ask what journalism is for. Drawing on his...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Is the Monarchy For?
Does the British monarchy still have a place in today's society? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit cast light on institutional racism, Prince Andrew's alleged sexual abuse highlighted troubling attitudes towards gender and power, while the abolition of the monarchy in Barbados accentuated its relationship to colonialism. But what is the monarchy actually for? Does it benefit the UK, or...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Are Animal Rights For?
How should we treat animals? The long-held belief that other animals exist solely for human use has undergone radical challenge in the past half century. How much further do we need to go to minimise, and even eliminate, animal suffering? The field of animal rights raises big questions about how humans treat the other animals with which we share the...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
What Are Museums For?
The days when museums were dusty, stuffy institutions displaying their wealth and wisdom to a reverential public are over. Museums today are a cultural battleground. Who should decide what is put on display and how it is presented? Who gets to set the narrative? In this passionately argued book, Jon Sleigh maintains that museums must be for all people and...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529249385
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 30 September 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bristol University Press
Illustration: 13 Illustrations, black and white
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 127.0mm
Height: 203.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 152
About the Author
N. J. Enfield is professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney. His award-winning research on how language influences the ways we think and act has been published widely in linguistics, anthropology and cognitive science, as well as in the media. He is a member of the Fighting Truth Decay research node at the Charles Perkins Centre.
Also by N.J. Enfield
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