We live in a post-truth era. Truth is no longer relevant in matters of political deliberation and objective facts are subordinated to emotive appeals and spurious opinions. This is crippling the...Show moreWe live in a post-truth era. Truth is no longer relevant in matters of political deliberation and objective facts are subordinated to emotive appeals and spurious opinions. This is crippling the political legitimacy of western liberal democracies, as these rely strongly on Enlightenment ideals of rationality, science and truth-based solutionism. At least, that is the common view. This thesis builds on a radically different conception of post-truth politics, one that sees it as an attack on the current knowledge game of established elites. It argues that post-truth politics is epistemically different from lies and bullshit. Fundamentally, it is a strategy that attacks the epistemic authoritarianism pervading our liberal democracies. This strategy wishes to uncover the game-like nature of truth in politics that is intimately linked to power and authority. Consequently, it seeks to level the playing field of the truth game. By doing so, I ultimately argue for the claim that this conception of post-truth politics is in line within the framework of political legitimacy as expounded by Rawls and Habermas.Show less
