Description
The nature of truth is a current preoccupation both in political and social debates. The emergence and consequences of fake news and misinformation are at the core of what some call a post-truth world.
Divided into two parts, Language and Truth develops the theoretical framework of language, truth, and communication. The book illustrates the way in which fake news is adhered to or rejected using case studies taken from political discourse such as the recent use of the word’s “genocide” and “denazification” by Vladimir Putin. It explores sources of information such as gossip and the everyday as well as exceptional uses of language such as humour.
This is vital reading for scholars, researchers, and students of pragmatics, semantics, philosophy of language, cognitive psychology, sociolinguistics, language and communication, and language and politics within linguistics, psychology, and communication studies.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgment
Introduction
Part 1: Language, truth, and meaning
Chapter 1: What is language?
Chapter 2: What is truth?
Chapter 3: Truth-condition and non-truth-conditional meaning
Part 2: Discourse, propagation of information, and complexity of meaning
Chapter 4: Truth and political discourses
Chapter 5: Truth and information propagation
Chapter 6: A pragmatic explanation to meaning complexity
Chapter 7: Truth, expertise, and dissemination of science
General conclusion
Glossary
Index
