Michael Lynch’s On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It defends both a pluralist account of truth and the importance of truth to our shared political—and, it is hoped, democratic—future. Because truth and democracy are “interlinked” (2), an attack on one is often an attack on the other; as a result, Lynch’s defense of truth—its value and its relevance across topics ranging from science to politics—is also a defense of democracy. He argues that clarifying the concept of truth can help clarify and deepen one’s commitment to democratic practices. It’s all pretty convincing.

It’s also fair to say that, until recently, theories of truth didn’t generate a whole lot of buzz. Epistemologists, metaphysicians, and philosophers of language would shoot envious glances at bioethicists, political theorists,…

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