A leader can render a disputed proposition ‘true enough’ by practical fiat

Evidence

True enough conspiracist claims are not innocuous. Assent denigrates the conclusions of official investigations and the reliable media. When Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, the president denied the confirmed fact of the matter: “Some people say [Flynn] lied and some people say he didn’t lie. I mean, really, it turned out maybe he didn’t lie.” The practical import of Trump’s statement is to render the proposition that Flynn didn’t lie true enough. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 132

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A claim’s falsity does not bar it from structuring thought — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 179; Undifferentiated power conflates truth with decision-making authority; Verification and falsification both presuppose that truth must draw consensus — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 217 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A claim’s falsity does not bar it from structuring thought #expands (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 179
• Undifferentiated power conflates truth with decision-making authority #corroborates (0.78)
• Some political falsehoods aim at affirmation of authority, not belief #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 164
• Uncoerced agreement requires speech acts backed by criticizable validity claims #contradicts (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 385
• Verification and falsification both presuppose that truth must draw consensus #complicates (0.72) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 217