True to life : why truth matters

Why does truth matter, when politicians so easily side step it and intellectuals scorn it as irrelevant?

Why be concerned over an abstract idea like truth when something that isn't true - for example, a report of Iraq's attempting to buy materials for nuclear weapons - gets the desired result, the invasion of Iraq?

In this engaging and spirited book, Michael Lynch argues that truth does matter, in both our personal and political lives.

Lynch explains that the growing cynicism over truth stems in large part from our confusion over what truth is. "We need to think our way past our confusion and shed our cynicism about the value of truth," he writes. "Otherwise, we will be unable to act with integrity, to live authentically, and to speak truth to power." Lynch diagnoses the sources of our cynicism and argues that many contemporary theories of truth cannot adequately account for its value.

He explains why we should care about truth, arguing that truth and its pursuit are part of living a happy life, important in our personal relationships and for our political values.