Who's afraid of Post-Truth?
As fake news and alternative facts spread, many have concluded that truth is no longer held in respect. Today, it seems, anything goes. But is there cause for concern? If so, for what, exactly?
Welcome to this open lecture with Professor Steve Fuller, U
niversity of Warwick.
Programme
- Welcome
Kristian Bjørkdahl, Postdoctor (SUM, UiO) - Lecture
Professor Steve Fuller, University of Warwick - Questions and answers
About the lecture
With the blatant disregard for fact, science, and expertise that marked both Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election many have been lead to think that we have now entered the age of post-truth. As if to emphasize the point, Oxford Dictionaries in 2016 made post-truth their word of the year – giving voice to widespread concerns that truth and facts were now being washed away by a wave of populism.
However, in his recent book, Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game, acclaimed sociologist Steve Fuller suggests that the supposed novelty of the post-truth condition is a misunderstanding, and nothing much to worry about. Can our current predicament be taken as a positive sign of the democratisation of knowledge?
Social media
The FORSK-KOMM Lecture
Fuller will visit Norway to give the FORSK-KOMM Lecture, the first installation of what will be an annual public lecture on the relation between science and society.