The Constitution of Knowledge
A Defense of Truth
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The Constitution of Knowledge
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Narrated by:
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Traber Burns
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By:
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Jonathan Rauch
About this listen
Arming Americans to defend the truth from today’s war on facts.
Disinformation. Trolling. Conspiracies. Social media pile-ons. Campus intolerance. On the surface, these recent additions to our daily vocabulary appear to have little in common. But together, they are driving an epistemic crisis: a multifront challenge to America’s ability to distinguish fact from fiction and elevate truth above falsehood.
In 2016, Russian trolls and bots nearly drowned the truth in a flood of fake news and conspiracy theories, and Donald Trump and his troll armies continued to do the same. Social media companies struggled to keep up with a flood of falsehoods and too often didn’t even seem to try. Experts and some public officials began wondering if society was losing its grip on truth itself. Meanwhile, another new phenomenon appeared: “cancel culture”. At the push of a button, those armed with a cellphone could gang up by the thousands on anyone who ran afoul of their sanctimony.
In this pathbreaking book, Jonathan Rauch reaches back to the parallel 18th-century developments of liberal democracy and science to explain what he calls the “Constitution of Knowledge” - our social system for turning disagreement into truth.
By explicating the Constitution of Knowledge and probing the war on reality, Rauch arms defenders of truth with a clearer understanding of what they must protect, why they must do - and how they can do it. His book is a sweeping and listenable description of how every American can help defend objective truth and free inquiry from threats as far away as Russia and as close as the cellphone.
©2021 Jonathan Rauch (P)2021 Blackstone PublishingWhat listeners say about The Constitution of Knowledge
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Prof Chris Turney
- 22-01-2022
Outstanding
A brilliantly insightful, engaging and confronting analysis of the importance of freedom of speech and thought. No matter how much you disagree with the other viewpoint. Brilliant!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DixieChick
- 01-07-2021
Excellent on every level
Brilliant, thoughtful, energising and ultimately, uplifting. Highly recommended for anyone who cares about the rise of, and acceptance of, political lies and new culture wars in the present political era.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- haydn
- 14-08-2022
Great logical frame to understand the modern thought culture wars
A steady walk through and defence of the western cannon of liberal thought, defence of free speech, and an unpacking of modern narrative streams that now define our culture of public discourse regarding contentious topics.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 27-06-2021
The case for truth
Jonathan Rauch is committed to epistemology (the study of knowledge). In his landmark 1993 book ‘Kindly Inquisitors’ Rauch treated the attacks on freedom of expression in academia. ‘The Constitution of Knowledge’ is the long-awaited sequel and true to form, Rauch does not disappoint. Published only last week, in an entertaining and enlightening ‘fact-filled’ book, Rauch uses the Madisonian constitutional design to explain how knowledge is ‘agreed upon’ by members of the ‘reality-based community’ checking and vetting ideas in the ‘marketplace of persuasion’. As Rauch explains, the constitution of knowledge relies upon participants abiding by two rules; the Fallibilist rule (the ethos we may be wrong) and the Empiricist rule (the commitment to objectivity, interchangeability, and accountability). Sounds dry but Rauch makes this book work by sharing countless examples and case studies of how disinformation is used by authoritarian leaders to undermine the Constitution of Knowledge. One of the best chapters in the book is concerned with digital media and how well-designed policy architecture can assist citizens and societies identify that which is information from knowledge (not dissimilar to how inspectors can distinguish between information and evidence). I’m calling it early, but this is the best book of 2021.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 09-05-2022
Great
Hugely enriching. A much needed contribution in a world of Trump, wokeness and all the rest.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A
- 18-09-2023
A new hope
Fantastic and insightful, provides solid advice on how to navigate modern knowledge issues by enabling a methodical approach to forming opinions and how to conduct yourself when discussing them.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 16-09-2023
You lost me
Reads like a puff piece…Anyone that’s quotes Wikipedia and Sam Harris has lost me unfortunately…
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