Truth and its traveling companion lying, appear to be very much on the nation’s mind these days. The nature of the country’s current acerbic political dialogue, for example, fueled by the daily bombardment of ideas and opinions from ubiquitous social media platforms has not only served to harden our political divisions but has sewn general confusion about not only what is true but about the very nature of truth itself. We hear quite often that we are living in a post-truth era where there is no such thing as “objective truth.” Remember that the denial of objective truth didn’t begin with the 2016 election. The denial of scientific facts about smoking, evolution, climate change, vaccinations and others have attempted to erode our confidence in objective truth for some time now.
This edition of Delmarva Today: Writer’s Edition is the first in a three part series dedicated to the discussion of truth. The program looks at the nature of truth and what it might mean to live in a post-truth era. The second program will focus on truth and how a society develops when faced with a post-truth world inundated with a constant radical, unfiltered flow of information that shapes ever-changing cultural models of reality. On the third, the program will focus on truth and its relation to politics.
Wilson’s guests to discuss the nature of truth and its relation to objective reality are: Don Rush, Associate Program Director- Sr. Producer News and Public Affairs; at Delmarva Public Radio; Adam Wood, Chairman of the Department of English at Salisbury University, and chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure; and Timothy Stock, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Salisbury University.
