Answering the Question: What is the Post-Truth? A Problematological Approach
The article raises the following question: what could be grounds for rationality and foundations for spiritual and moral value systems in the 21st century world that is marked by the dominance of the so-called “post-truth politics”? In order to answer this question, the author addresses two conceptions of post-truth, proposed by the rhetorical theorist Bruce McComiskey and social epistemologist Steve Fuller, and compares them highlighting the first one. According to McComiskey, the post-truth condition differs from the earlier situation by the change of the prevailing rhetorical regime. Whereas previously the “bullshit” (Harry Frankfurt’s term) of politicians and mass media was affecting the ethos and pathos of communication, leaving logos mostly intact, then nowadays, after the Brexit referendum and the U.S. presidential election of Donald Trump, logos has been denigrated. Having analyzed McComiskey’s approach in the light of Fuller’s conception, the author concludes that the former’s treatment of the subject is insufficient, because post-truth has not merely a negative (as McComiskey believes) but also a positive dimension. In order to describe both these dimensions, the author uses Michel Meyer’s rhetorical theory - problematology. It helps to demonstrate that McComiskey’s emphasis on logos is excessive and that the “objective facts” (allegedly threatened in the post-truth world) include not only logos but also other rhetorical elements. The author concludes that the problematological paradigm with its focus on questioning can provide grounds for rationality and moral values in the world that has emerged from the “postmodern condition”.