Sun.10th April: Open Forum: Who Now Owns the Truth?

But if truth be known it be known as shared,
Lived out in Life before the other paired… (51)
So know, know well, that Truth cannot be sold,
Never bought nor owned, only shown… not told! (54)

In this Contemporary era how do we know x is telling the truth or telling a lie, and, know that x knows or does not know that they are telling the truth or telling a lie? Does it matter who is substituted for x? Does it make a difference if x is a politician, a philosopher, a friend, a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, a lover, a mother, a child..? What are the social dimensions of truth/untruth telling in an age that is both multi-cultural and pluralistic and (political) power is no longer the province of any one particular elite..??  

A Brief Introduction to this Topic

	On the cover the Australian edition of the Time magazine dated the 27th October, 2004 was the title: Who Owns the Truth? The article itself was titled Blue Truth, Red Truth: The CBS flap is one more sign of the ferocious struggle between political partisans to see the world their way; this article being signed by Nancy Gibbs. The article discussed the observation that “America has long been a house divided. But that the two sides have never been further apart.” 
In previous forums we have noted how the American political scene seems to be a very good reflection of recent trends in Australian politics, and v.v. The article just noted suggests a number of reasons why this division is becoming more entrenched and more divisive. Reasons suggested include changes in election funding (away from the major parties themselves to apparently independent organizations), co-option of certain media by the Right, etc. In looking at this phenomenon of the apparent co-option of the truth we need to note that a philosophy of truth must take into account a social dimension and not restrict itself to some narrow view that truth is just propositional, or, a matter of language. 
	In this open forum let us look at these social features in the experience and determination of truth-telling, or rather, truth-showing. In this broad spectrum, deeper examination of ‘our’ experience of the natural science and art of truth determination let us look at whether truth can be ‘owned’; indeed, bought and sold; can only be something shown; can only be mis-shown; what factors influence our experience of truth like the inequality of interpersonal-power relations; what is the difference between telling a lie and working out that the ‘lie’ is actually a lie; the role and power, etc., of traditional media, contemporary forms of non-mainstream media; is truth distorted by merely being represented, discussed, etc?                		         		        	        Noël Tointon, Sydney, 10.4.05.