Truth and Democracy - (Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism) by Jeremy Elkins & Andrew Norris (Hardcover)

About the Book

Scholars from a variety of fields, including prominent political and legal theorists, philosophers, and intellectual historians, take up the question of whether democratic politics requires talk about truth, and, if so, how truth should matter to democratic politics.

Book Synopsis

Political theorists Jeremy Elkins and Andrew Norris observe that American political culture is deeply ambivalent about truth. On the one hand, voices on both the left and right make confident appeals to the truth of claims about the status of the market in public life and the role of scientific evidence and argument in public life, human rights, and even religion. On the other hand, there is considerable anxiety that such appeals threaten individualism and political plurality. This anxiety, Elkins and Norris contend, has perhaps been greatest in the humanities and in political theory, where many have responded by either rejecting or neglecting the whole topic of truth.

The essays in this volume question whether democratic politics requires discussion of truth and, if so, how truth should matter to democratic politics. While individual essays approach the subject from different angles, the volume as a whole suggests that the character of our politics depends in part on what kinds of truthful inquiries it promotes and how it deals with various kinds of disputes about truth. The contributors to the volume, including prominent political and legal theorists, philosophers, and intellectual historians, argue that these are important political and not merely theoretical questions.

Review Quotes

"Truth and Democracy explores an important set of questions: Can truth be set aside or rejected in politics? If truth is to be considered, in what way should it matter and what significance would this have for democracy? The book contains strong work by a number of prominent scholars, and the alternation between extended reflection and critical reflection makes for a stimulating dynamic of engagement."-- "Keith J. Bybee, Syracuse University"

"A welcome contribution to the ongoing debates in political theory regarding the troubled relationship of truth and politics. The contributors to Truth and Democracy are theorists who have serious and deep concerns with the subject and are struggling mightily with the paradoxes and conundrums they are presented with."-- "Thomas L. Dumm, Amherst College"

About the Author

Jeremy Elkins is Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr College. Andrew Norris is Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara.