Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

SUBSCRIBE NOW

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit Subscriptions.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

The Tree of Knowledge

Elements of Truth

Michael Baumann lists eight essential questions for judging the reliability of information.

We live in times where a lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets halfway out of bed. From half-educated half-wits declaring themselves as experts in anything, to the sharpening and levelling of political information, to the smearing of opponents, to the latest rumours in a crisis, to the creation of alternative facts, to targeted disinformation campaigns, how do you know that what you are being told is true?

You don’t.

Birmingham Museums Trust via Unsplash

Almost nothing you know or believe about the world is based on your own experience. Almost everything you know or believe about the world you know on trust.

…