The label ‘post-truth’ signals for many a troubling turn away from principles of enlightened government. The word ‘post’, moreover, implies a past when things were radically different and whose loss should be universally mourned. In this paper, we argue that this framing of ‘post-truth’ is flawed because it is ahistorical and ignores the co-production of knowledge and norms in political contexts. Debates about public facts are necessarily debates about social meanings, rooted in realities that are subjectively experienced as all-encompassing and complete, even when they are partial and contingent. Facts used in policy are normative in four ways: They are embedded in prior choices of which experiential realities matter, produced through processes that reflect institutionalized public values, arbiters of which issues are open to democratic contestation and deliberation, and vehicles through which polities imagine their collective futures. To restore truth to its rightful place in democracy, governments should be held accountable for explaining who generated public facts, in response to which sets of concerns, and with what opportunities for deliberation and closure.

Sheila Jasanoff

Hilton R Simmet

Social Studies of Science

SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE 是一份国际同行评审期刊，鼓励提交有关科学、技术和医学的原创研究。该杂志是多学科的，出版的作品来自多个领域，包括：政治学、社会学、经济学、历史学、哲学、心理学、社会人类学、法律和教育学科。该期刊是出版伦理委员会 (COPE) 的成员

Social Studies of Science is an international peer-reviewed journal that encourages the submission of original research related to science, technology, and medicine. The journal is multidisciplinary, publishing works from various fields, including political science, sociology, economics, history, philosophy, psychology, social anthropology, law, and education. It is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

《Social Studies of Science》是一本国际同行评审的学术期刊，鼓励提交关于科学、技术和医学的原创研究。该期刊具有多学科特性，发表的作品涵盖多个领域，包括政治学、社会学、经济学、历史学、哲学、心理学、社会人类学、法律和教育学。该期刊是出版伦理委员会（COPE）的成员。

Category	Quartile
社会学	2
社会学, 科学史与科学哲学	1

No funeral bells: Public reason in a ‘post-truth’ age

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