Alternative Facts

I have a new definition of truth: correspondence to the alternative facts. Thus “snow is black” corresponds to the alternative fact that snow is black. I also have a new definition of moral rightness: an action is right if and only if it promotes the alternative good (suffering, injustice, etc). Also logical validity: entailment within an alternative logic (such as one in which every proposition follows from its negation). The alternative Cogito: I think, therefore I don’t exist.

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13 replies
  1. Alan Colquhoun
    Alan Colquhoun says:

    Watching Trump’s minions spew newspeak is like being confronted with the Mouth of Sauron. You feel tainted just listening to it. Contemplating Trump’s character is like being sullied in aesthetic disrapture.

    Reply
    • Colin McGinn
      Colin McGinn says:

      What does Trump see when he looks in the mirror? Not an orange blob topped by a fragile combover, but the most tremendous winningest beloved person you will ever meet, believe me. Or not.

      Reply
  2. Bonnie Jo Dopp
    Bonnie Jo Dopp says:

    I just posted this on my FB page: I came across the phrase “intractable ignorance” recently and found this comment elsewhere: “To the seeker after truth, the only thing worse than intractable ignorance is incomprehensible [italicized] intractable ignorance. Colin McGinn, Basic Structures of Reality: Essays in Meta-Physics, Oxford University Press, 2011, p.70. Something to keep in mind as we struggle to discover truth these days.

    Thank you, Professor!

    Reply
  3. Bonnie Jo Dopp
    Bonnie Jo Dopp says:

    I think of sin as a religious concept. In leading people on with lies, I guess I could say he and Bannon are sinning, or at least morally wrong. As someone who feels constantly curious, I find that any willingness to remain uneducated in the face of those non-facts incomprehensible. I realize I took your statement out of context — but it helped me think about my own bafflement at contemporary Western far-right political disruptions.

    Reply
    • Colin McGinn
      Colin McGinn says:

      Some ignorance is part of the human condition and may be permanent, but political ignorance (say about global warming) is quite different and shades into deception, of oneself and others.

      Reply

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