Michael Patrick Lynch
Philosopher. Writer. TED-talker. Sailor. @UConn. Worried about truth, democracy and the ethics of AI. New book: *On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It*
- Great piece on the administration's attack on our epistemic infrastructure--and shout-out to my work-- by @peterbakernyt.bsky.social in today's paper.
- Trump's war on facts has reached a new level and the message is clear: Government officials who deal in data now fear they have to toe the line and adopt his version of reality no matter how false or risk losing their jobs. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
[This account was taken down by their PDS (Bluesky PBC)]- No — not even close. But we can do better— or worse.
- New review of On Truth in Politics @foreignaffairs.com www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/trut...
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- That is definitely not normal!
- So excited to see Manuel Almagro Holgado's new book long-listed for the Royal Institute of Philosophy's Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy. Congrats to Manuel and all the other long-listers! royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/longlis...
- Tagging @almagro.bsky.social
- Great review on On Truth in Politics in NDPR by John Capps ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/on-t...
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- Indeed
- New interview on bullshit and lies in politics megaphone.link/NBNK4488676287
- #438 - Truth In Politics: A Dialogue with Michael P. Lynch open.substack.com/pub/convergi...
- New review of On Truth in Politics
- NEW✨ On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It by philosopher @michael-p-lynch.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social makes the case for why #truth is essential to #democracy and needs to be rehabilitated in the "post-truth" era. #Review by Jeff Roquen 👇
- Democracy and the pursuit of truth are twin values and must be defended together. www.skeptic.com/michael-sher...
- Talking about why truth matters for democratic politics: www.youtube.com/live/l0CSl4o...
- The hits to our epistemic infrastructure just keep coming. Expect this effort to go national shortly: wapo.st/4d48IaK
- Join me to talk about On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It www.92ny.org/event/on-tru...
- Join me tonight @92ndstreety.bsky.social talking about why truth is the enemy of the tyrant: On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It url:https://www.92ny.org/event/on-truth-in-politics
- 92nd st. Y tomorrow night: On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It url:https://www.92ny.org/event/on-truth-in-politics
- Democracy demands truth
- In this article, based on his recent book, Prof. Michael Lynch explores how the distortion of truth fuels authoritarian tendencies in the U.S. A key contribution to understanding the link between democracy and knowledge. @michael-p-lynch.bsky.social politicsrights.com/truth-and-au...
- Truth is the enemy of the tyrant. press.princeton.edu/ideas/when-d...
- Part two of truth is the enemy of the tyrant: politicsrights.com/truth-and-au...
- Authoritarians fear truth. politicsrights.com/truth-and-au...
- “It was a mistake but we aren’t taking it back” Hmm .. where have we heard that before?
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- Thank you!
- Yes, @timothysnyder.bsky.social is, like usual, absolutely correct. Let's call it what it is: state terror conducted by secret police.
- "the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man mistakenly sent to a gulag... and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps. This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped" snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
- Publication day! www.amazon.com/Truth-Politi...
- It is time to start calling ICE what it is: The Secret Police. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
- Out today wherever you find your audiobooks.
- A vital and timely book, On Truth in Politics by @michael-p-lynch.bsky.social makes an original case for why democracy cannot survive without truth. The #audiobook is out now and available wherever you listen! 🎧📘 @tantoraudio.bsky.social
- It should be clear by now that it is a matter of when, not if, the administration will disregard a court order. Court orders, we are about to find out, mean very little without enforcement by the executive branch.
- Here is one way it *might* play out: court orders administration's act X to temporarily stop (substitute any recent relevant example for "X"). Administration ignores this order. Trump decries relevant judge as "corrupt". FBI launches investigation into judge.
- Chilling effect ensues even as the case(s) work their way though a system whose pronouncements become increasingly academic. This scenario is not inevitable. But it is not at all unlikely.
- Here's some information on how NIH funding impacts your own state: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
- File this under: "They told us they would do this": The recent announcement by the NIH to massively cut the amount of indirects allowed on biomedical grants may sound, to the outside ear, as technical and purely aimed at cutting administrative costs. It is neither.
- Project 2025 and Vance have told us universities are the "enemy". And they are right--universities are core democratic institutions, and anti-democratic forces have always been hostile to them. Those of us committed to these institutions, to truth and democracy, must prepare now for it to get worse.
- And even if this cut is momentarily stalled in the courts, it is just the first of a series of direct attacks we are about to see on universities. Money will be used as a weapon. The sciences will not be the only, or even the prime target: e.g.philosophy and sociology will come under direct attack.
- State university medical centers (like the one at UConn--and where I receive my own cancer care) depend on federal grant dollars to do life-saving research. The amount of funding involved is so large that there will be no "making it up" from other sources. Research will slow and stop.
- Third in a series of reflections on truth and politics www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/on...
- Second in a series on truth and democracy: Two values that are rapidly disappearing together even as I write this: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/on-t...
- First of a series of public reflections on truth and politics: www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/on...
- Dramatic reversal in South Korea last night tells us that #resistance and #truth can still matter.
- Now available for pre-order worldwide: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
- New podcast interview. On censorship and the coming storm against education in the United States. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5...
