Abstract
In recent years, many authors have observed that something is happening to the truth, pointing out that, particularly in politics and social communication, there are signs that the idea of truth is losing consideration in media discourse. This is no minor issue: Truth, understood as the criterion for the justification of knowledge, is the essential foundation of enlightened rationality. The aim of this article, based on prior research on social communication (especially as regards journalism), is to elucidate an explanation of this phenomenon, known as ‘post-truth.’ Because it is an epistemological question, the three main variables of the problem (reality, subject and truth) have been analysed by taking into account the manner in which digital social communication is transforming our perception of reality. By way of a conclusion, we propose that (a) the ontological complexity of reality as explained by the news media has accentuated the loss of confidence in journalism as a truth-teller, and that (b) truth is being replaced by sincerity, as an epistemological value, in people’s understanding of the news. The result, using Foucault’s concept of Regime of Truth, suggests a deep change in the global framework of political, economic, social and cultural relations, of which post-truth is a symptom.
Highlights
The idea of ‘post-truth’ may evolve into a ‘zombie concept’ if its meaning is not determined and if it fails to show some kind of capacity to explain our reality
(b), we will analyse how these problematic journalistic facts are being validated in a digital media context: We place this question in the conceptual framework in which post-truth and neoliberal rationality converge, using the Foucaultian concept of Regimes of Truth’ (RoT) because it enables us to integrate the subjective dimension into the gnoseological process, and because it explains how epistemology is determined by the neoliberal hegemony
We have looked to substantiate the term post-truth through what we have called ‘epistemological mutation,’ which eliminates the subject’s need to validate their statements against reality and replaces it with the sense of security that stems from the sincerity with which the subject formulates their statements, in an context in which individualism has weakened social ties and the construction of knowledge has ceased to be a global endeavour
Summary
The idea of ‘post-truth’ may evolve into a ‘zombie concept’ if its meaning is not determined and if it fails to show some kind of capacity to explain our reality. Researchers in the fields of general sociology (Gane, 2014), cognitive sociology (Leyva, 2020), social psychology (Gjorgjioska & Tomici, 2019) and education (Goldstein, Macrine, & Chesky, 2011) have pointed in the same direction This is how the central question of this article arises: Do post-truth and neoliberal subjectivity refer to similar things? These are not new questions: authors such as Calin Cotoi (2011), Barbara Biesecker (2018) and Sergei Prozorov (2019) have linked post-truth to neoliberalism under the Foucaultian concept of ‘Regimes of Truth’ (RoT), which defines the general framework in which the relationship between truth, power and subjectivity is established. (b), we will analyse how these problematic journalistic facts are being validated in a digital media context: We place this question in the conceptual framework in which post-truth and neoliberal rationality converge, using the Foucaultian concept of RoT because it enables us to integrate the subjective dimension into the gnoseological process, and because it explains how epistemology is determined by the neoliberal hegemony
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
