Post-Truth Politics and the Competition of Ideas
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6251415 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alfred Moore (0000-0002-7252-5039, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 112-121 |
| Publication date | 2023-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0891-3811 • E-ISSN: 1933-8007 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08913811.2023.2221504 |
| OpenAlex | W4380997123 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 11 |
Post-truth” politics is often framed as a failure of the competition of ideas. Yet there are different ways of thinking about the competition of ideas, with different implications for the way we understand its benefits and risks. The dominant way of framing the competition of ideas is in terms of a marketplace, which, however, obscures the different ways ideas can compete. Several theorists can help us think through the competition of ideas. J. S. Mill, for example, avoided the metaphor of the market by focusing, instead, on competition as the testing of arguments in adversarial encounters before a critical audience. Georg Simmel, alternatively, conceived of competition as a form of indirect conflict, where two individuals strive in parallel to gain audience approval. This view emphasizes innovation and creativity in the competition of “all for all.” More recently, theorists have developed the market logic of competition by thinking of a marketplace not for ideas but for rationalizations. This articulates some of the features of Simmel’s view of competition, but underestimates the degrees of constraint required to secure the goods of competition. Ultimately, recognizing these different modes of competition in the public sphere can enrich our theories of deliberative democracy and sharpen our view of the problem of “post-truth” politics
Competition (biology · Creativity · Economics · Epistemology · Framing (construction · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
Democracy in Europe
Conflict
The marketplace of rationalizations
Two Concepts of Competition
John Stuart Mill and the “Marketplace of Ideas”
Knowledge in a Social World
Reality check
Why do we believe in competition? A historical-sociological view of competition as an institutionalized modern imaginary
The competition of ideas
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |