Post-truth – a challenge?
8. desember 2017 arrangerte Senter for vitskapsteori dette symposiet til ære for professor emeritus Gunnar Skirbekk. Tema og gjester gjenspegla hans interesseområde og internasjonale samarbeid.
Hovedinnhold
Senter for vitskapsteori arrangerer symposiet "Post-truth – a challenge?" til ære for professor emeritus Gunnar Skirbekk som tidlegare i år fylte 80 år. Skirbekk har ein svært omfattande vitskapeleg produksjon og er framleis svært aktiv på senteret og i samfunnsdebatten for øvrig. På symposiet deltek både lokale og internasjonale gjestar som gjenspeilar interesseområda i Skirbekks forskning og hans mange internasjonale samarbeid. Me ynskjer velkommen til diskusjon kring viktige spørsmål om vitskap og samfunn i Gunnar Skirbekks ånd.
Symposiet vert helde på engelsk. Alle interesserte er velkomne!
About the symposium
Established rules for public discourse have developed in directions that leave observers and commentators searching for new descriptions. "Post-truth" is one attempt to capture salient aspects of the new trend, as in the expression "post-truth politics". In this context, the prefix 'post' does not mean 'after', as in 'post hoc' or 'post factum', but has come to designate precisely the irrelevance of the specified term. Post-truth designates a situation in which 'truth' is of little or no relevance. Being selected by Oxford dictionaries as "Word of the Year" in 2016, the expression has entered into general usage only recently, tied in particular after the Brexit and the US presidential campaigns of 2016.
The SVT symposium 2017 invites distinguished scholars to discuss the concept of post truth, its uses, the historical context in which it arose, and the implications for public discourse. What phenomenon is described by it? Who is using the term? Is it a descriptive term, or rather, evaluative? What is the political and epistemic function of the phenomenon it refers to? What is its relationship to related concepts such as 'truth', 'falsehood', 'lie', 'deception' and 'propaganda'?
In short: Post-truth, a challenge? And if so, what kind of challenges are there, behind it all – epistemic, technological, institutional? And what could possibly be done to encounter these challenges?
Speakers
- Gunnar Skribekk, Professor emeritus of Philosophy and Theory of Science, University of Bergen
- TONG Shijun, Professor of Philosophy, Chairman of the University Council, East China Normal University, Shanghai
- YU Zhenhua, Professor of philosophy, East China Normal University, Shanghai
- Ying Qi, Professor of philosophy, East China Normal University, Shanghai
- Silje Aambø Langvatn, Phd, Researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order, University of Oslo
- Tarjei Skirbekk, Historian of ideas and communication advisor. Author of the book How to win elections: Modern political communication, 2015 (Hvordan vinne valg: Moderne politisk kommunikasjon)
- Hilde Sandvik, Editor-in-Chief, Broen.xyz
- Ragnhild Freng Dahle, PhD candidate, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Programme
| 09:00–09:10 | Welcome by Prof. Carl W. Matthias Kaiser, Director of the Centre of the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities |
| 09:10–09:30 | "On This Famous Remark by Kant: 'If justice perishes, then it is no longer worthwhile for men to live upon the earth'" by Shijun Tong, Professor of Philosophy, Chairman of the University Council, East China Normal University, Shanghai |
| 09:30–09:45 | Commentary by Prof. Carl W.Matthias Kaiser, University of Bergen, questions and discussion |
| 09:45–10:05 | Hilde Sandvik, Editor-in-Chief, Broen.xyz |
| 10:05–10:20 | Commentary by PhD Ingrid Foss Ballo, University of Bergen, questions and discussion |
| 10:20–10:40 | Coffee break |
| 10:40–11:00 | "Public reason in an age of post-truth?" by Silje Aambø Langvatn, PhD, Researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order, University of Oslo |
| 11:00–11:15 | Commentary by Prof. Emeritus Gunnar Skirbekk, University of Bergen, questions and discussion |
| 11:15–11:35 | "What is fake news? Is it new and what does it mean for the public political dialogue? A short reflection" Tarjei Skirbekk, Historian of ideas and communication advisor. Author of the book How to win elections: Modern political |
| 11:35–11:50 | Commentary by PhD Helene Nilsen, University of Bergen, questions and discussion |
| 11:50–12:10 | Ying Qi, Professor of philosophy, East China Normal University, Shanghai |
| 12:10–12:25 | Commentary by Prof. Jeroen P.van der Sluijs, University of Bergen, questions and discussion |
| 12:25–13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30–13:50 | Ragnhild Freng Dahle, PhD candidate, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge |
| 13:50–14:05 | Commentary by Assoc.Prof Kjetil Rommetveit, questions and discussion |
| 14:05–14:25 | "Back to the primordial conception of truth in the Post-truth era" by Yu Zhenhua Professor of philosophy, East China Normal University, Shanghai |
| 14:25–14:40 | Commentary by Assoc.Prof Rasmus Slaattelid, questions and discussion |
| 14:40–15:00 | "Post-truth – a challenge?" by Gunnar Skirbekk, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theory of Science, University of Bergen |
| 15:00–15:20 | Coffee break |
| 15:20–16:20 | General discussion – lead by Silvio Funtowicz |
