Politics and the Criteria of Truth

A politically emancipatory action proceeds in the name of truth, not interests, power of domination. It is only through this activity that human beings' freedom exists. In the post-positivist era, in which the reified subject-object dichotomy must be overcome, we require a normative criterion of truth. Without it, the rationality of our beliefs and the justifiability of our political acts are both in question. Political epistemology is a research project that investigates how politics frames questions of knowledge. As a strategic activity to make the production of truth meaningful, ethically valuable, and politically emancipatory, it promotes a new understanding of the connection between political engagement and epistemic normativity.

The present volume argues that despite their important differences, Karl Max, Theodore Adorno, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Jacques Derrida share a political understanding of knowledge and normativity.