THE ERA OF POST-TRUTH IN THE MODERN WORLD: ORIGIN AND CAUSES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the era of post-truth as a phenomenon of socio-political discourse and practice, when the truth or falsity of facts and judgments is ignored. The beginning of the post-truth era is usually associated with 2016, namely the referendum and the Brexit procedure, and the US presidential election (due directly to the figure of D. Trump). The post-truth era refers to a situation where politics is completely built on lies that do not arouse public condemnation. The manifestation of these signs among democratic countries is a feature. The use of the policy of “alternative facts” is part of the state policy of such authoritarian countries as China, Russia, Belarus, etc., but its manifestation in a democratic society is atypical. The philosophical origins of the post-truth era lie in the theory of subjective relativism, which denies the existence of absolute, objective truth and emphasizes that the status of truth depends on individual judgments, experiences, and cultural conditions. In the context of relativism, science is only one point of view on the world, which has the same force and influence of arguments as religion, myths, judgments and personal experience of the average person. The concept of equality of opinions and points of view is intertwined with the problem of the limits of freedom of speech: should society really broadcast different opinions regardless of evidence. Limited or unlimited freedom of speech is the problem? Characteristic features of post-truth are: a) ignoring objective facts in reporting; b) appealing to the values and beliefs of the individual; c) using emotional pressure to argue one’s position. The post-truth era is actually characterized by the construction of an alternative reality, which is associated with a number of phenomena: fake news, accent framing, clickbait, information hype, opinion journalism, etc. It is justified that the emergence and development of the post-truth era is determined by technological, political, philosophical and informational factors. In this article it was reviewed how the post-truth era affects the political, educational, scientific and other spheres, which significantly reduces their effectiveness. The highlighted sentence is not a clear or complete sentence. Disinformation as part of the post-truth is a significant challenge for ordinary citizens.