Watch Michael Lynch on the Democratic Value of Truth

Michael Lynch, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, was the presenter of the third PERITIA Lecture. Hosted by the University College Dublin and the American University of Armenian, the event took place on 4 May and is part of the series [Un]Truths: Trust in an Age of Disinformation. Lynch is the director of the Humanities Institute and director of the New England Humanities Consortium. His work concerns truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology.

Truth and politics, as Arendt noted, always seem to be at war with one another. But if so, truth has been on the losing side recently, particularly in democratic societies around the globe. Against this background, Lynch explored two questions: First, what does it mean for truth to be a particularly democratic value? And second, what are the greatest threats to that value?

“Democracies have a special interest in institutions, methods and sources that help us reliably pursue truth — that is true beliefs — because of an interest in having an informed populace, effective deliberation and epistemic justice”, argued Lynch in his lecture.

The PERITIA Lectures explore the concept of trust and truth in light of current events. Prominent philosophers and academics from Europe and the United States come together to present their latest research on trust in science, conspiracy theories, trustworthy science, truth and democracy, and trust and cognitive science. Registration is free and open to all.