Allen, Barry

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The goal of philosophers is truth, but for a century or more they have been bothered by Nietzsche's question "What is the good of truth?" Barry Allen shows us what truth has come to mean in the philosophical tradition, what is wrong with many of the ways of conceiving truth, and why philosophers refuse to confront squarely the question of the value of truth - why it is always taken to be an unquestioned concept. What is distinctive about Allen's book is his historical approach. Surveying Western thought from the pre-Socratics to the present day, Allen identifies and criticizes two core assumptions: that truth implies a realist metaphysics, and that truth is a good thing. Examining first the origin of these assumptions in Greek thought, Allen traces their evolution in modern philosophy, a shift from taking nature as the grounds of truth's existence to making the human subject central. Taking up Nietzsche and William James, Allen criticizes the belief that truth is good. Finally, drawing on Heidegger, Derrida, Wittgenstein, and Foucault, Allen attacks realist metaphysics, presenting a powerful argument for the social constructionist view of truth. Building on Derrida as well as Davidson, Allen seeks to restore our trust in the subjectivist account of truth that is not transcendent but immanent within human practices. "Truth in Philosophy" should appeal to many philosophers, particularly specialists (whether of the "analytic" or "continental" persuasion) in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. Non-philosophers interested in the work of the important thinkers that Allen discusses should find clear and carefully written accounts of their contributions to the work on truth in Western philosophy.