The Briefing Room

General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Archaeology => Topic started by: Suppressed on March 19, 2018, 01:19:29 am

Title: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: Suppressed on March 19, 2018, 01:19:29 am
http://www.philosophersbeard.org/2010/11/democracy-is-not-truth-machine.html?m=1 (http://www.philosophersbeard.org/2010/11/democracy-is-not-truth-machine.html?m=1)

Monday, 5 December 2011
Democracy is not a truth machine

In a democracy people are free to express their opinions and question those of others. This is an important personal freedom, and also essential to the very idea of government by discussion. But it has also been held to be instrumentally important because in open public debate true ideas will conquer false ones by their merit, and the people will see the truth for themselves. In other words, democracy has an epistemic function as a kind of truth machine. From this it follows that in a democracy there should be no dogma: no knowledge protected from public challenge and debate. Yet this whole argument is founded on embarrassing misconceptions of  the nature of truth and of the working of democracy.

[...]
Title: Re: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: DB on March 19, 2018, 01:27:02 am
Quote from: Suppressed on March 19, 2018, 01:19:29 am
http://www.philosophersbeard.org/2010/11/democracy-is-not-truth-machine.html?m=1 (http://www.philosophersbeard.org/2010/11/democracy-is-not-truth-machine.html?m=1)

Monday, 5 December 2011
Democracy is not a truth machine

In a democracy people are free to express their opinions and question those of others.

[...]

Isn't the first sentence blantently wrong?

That isn't true in either Canada or Britain (just for a start). Freely expressing your opinions can be called hate speech and get you fined and/or put in prison on short order.

Sorry, stopped reading after that.
Title: Re: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: WingNot on March 19, 2018, 01:27:49 am
The truth is out there.
Title: Re: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: Bigun on March 19, 2018, 01:28:35 am
I could care less about a "democracy"!  I would hate to have to live in one!
Title: Re: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: endicom on March 19, 2018, 01:51:02 am
Quote from: DB on March 19, 2018, 01:27:02 am
Isn't the first sentence blantently wrong?



Yes, blatantly. Democracy is at the whim of the majority.





Title: Re: Democracy is not a truth machine
Post by: Weird Tolkienish Figure on March 19, 2018, 07:21:16 am
Quote from: DB on March 19, 2018, 01:27:02 am
Isn't the first sentence blantently wrong?

That isn't true in either Canada or Britain (just for a start). Freely expressing your opinions can be called hate speech and get you fined and/or put in prison on short order.

Sorry, stopped reading after that.

Yep.