Establishing veritocracy: Society, truth, and science

Collins, Harry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2909-9035 2024. Establishing veritocracy: Society, truth, and science. Transcultural Psychiatry 10.1177/13634615241260726

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Abstract

In the west, truth is being eroded by post-modernist ideas such as alternative facts. Once truth is no longer valued it is a short route through nationalistic populism to fascism. To combat this we need to establish the idea of ‘veritocracy’ as a form of government. A veritocracy is a democracy in which truth is so highly valued that promising to tell the truth will become a central feature of politicians’ election manifestos feeding back the idea of veritocracy deeper into national culture. A proper understanding of the nature of science can support the idea of veritocracy. This proper understanding will not repeat the mythology of post-World War II philosophy and history of science, but will begin with the much more socially cognisant revolution in our understanding of science that began in the 1960s and 1970s. Nevertheless, a ‘wave three’ of science studies will justify science, not as a certainty-maker for policy, but as the way to bet in developing the best understanding of the observable world. The key is that science depends on moral truth in its attempts to develop correspondence truth. Science, like the law, should be a ‘check and balance’ in pluralist democracies and an object lesson in how to pursue truth in decision-making.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications (UK and US)
ISSN:	1363-4615
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 June 2024
Date of Acceptance:	25 March 2024
Last Modified:	09 Jul 2024 12:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170040

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