[A Sip of Books] How Philosophy Distinguishes Truth: 'Conditions of Truth'

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a point of connection with the book. Here, we introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

What exactly is truth? The author traces the definitions of truth discussed by philosophy over the past several thousand years to find the answer. From the perspectives of psychology, society, and linguistics, the book reveals how the 'enemies of truth' have deceived us, why we have been inevitably deceived by them, and offers a breakthrough. This book, which synthesizes almost all humanities knowledge related to 'truth' including philosophy, psychology, sociology, and linguistics, became a bestseller immediately upon publication in Sweden and won prestigious social science awards. It received numerous praises from intellectuals worldwide, including Steven Pinker. Moreover, it was selected as a guidebook for future generations navigating the post-truth era and was provided free of charge to 110,000 high school seniors, significantly impacting society as a whole.

Belief, no matter how strong, is not the same as knowledge. You may think you know something and have a strong conviction that your thought is correct. But if that belief is not actually true, then you do not know anything.

- Page 31, What is Knowledge?

Pointing out that I might be wrong does not necessarily falsify my belief. This often occurs in debates. People argue that because a particular belief or theory has not been proven, it might be wrong, and claim this as a falsification of that belief or theory. (...) The absence of evidence does not itself constitute a rebuttal.

- Page 46, How Much Should We Doubt?

Why do we continue to believe something despite valid opposing evidence? It is because we lack sufficient knowledge to understand and accurately evaluate the counterarguments to our beliefs.

- Page 123, Why Do We Believe Such Strange Things?

The existence of two extreme positions does not justify the belief that the truth lies 'somewhere in the middle.' The truth about global warming cannot be found between climate scientists and climate change deniers.

- Page 300, Source Criticism

Journalists, especially those working in the public sector, worry that they must be as objective as possible and that their objectivity is threatened if they do not present well-established knowledge through debate. However, this concern is unfounded. Being objective does not mean treating all claims (both those with valid grounds and those without) equally, but rather presenting claims that have valid grounds for belief. Objectivity should not be confused with neutrality.

- Page 327, Debate and Fact-Checking

Conditions of Truth | Written by Osa Vikfors | Translated by Park Se-yeon | Pureunsup | 360 pages | 18,000 KRW