The publisher, Thomas Dunne Books ,
Praise for Truth by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
"I cannot remember having read anything as
intellectually deft on so ambitious a subject…an
enthralling and delightful read." --The Independent
"It is rare to come across a book which seems so
timely…a monumental effort…a feat of virtuosity and
vitality" --Literary Review
"A high-spirited vacation in a realm of dangerous
ideas" --The Times (London)
"A sharp and interesting work, bound to enrage
specialists in the fields he sprints through" --The New
Statesman
We need a history of truth--though until now no one has
tried to write one. We need it to test the claim that truth
is just a name for opinions--produced and reproduced--that
suit the demands of society or the convenience of élites. We
need to be able to tell whether truth is changeable or
eternal, embedded in time or outside it, universal or varying
from place to place.
We need to know how we have got to where we are in the
history of truth--how our society has come to lose faith in
the reality of it and lose interest in the search for it. We
need a history of truth to illuminate the unique predicament
of our times and, Felipe Fernández-Armesto argues, to help
us escape from it.
Fernández-Armesto shows how--at different times, in
different societies--people have tried to distinguish truth
from falsehood; he also exposes the basic human assumptions
about truth that have informed and determined these
truth-telling strategies. All truth-finding can be reduced,
he argues, to a few basic types, which have always been
available, but which have been combined in varying
proportions. These types are still useful. They can help us
survive contemporary uncertainty and rebuild life after
doubt.
This little book takes on an enormous subject and makes it
understandable to anyone. It's a work of unusual audacity and
tremendous scope; it is short, clear, readable,
opinionated--but uncompromising in raising big issues, using
rich language, and embracing a vast range. It leaps from
truth-telling technologies of earlier societies to the
private mental worlds of great philosophers, from the
building of the pyramids to cubist art, from spiritualism to
science, and from New York to New Guinea.
Felipe Fernández-Armesto has been a member of the Modern
History Faculty of Oxford University since 1983. Translations
of his work have appeared or are pending in twenty languages.
