PHILOS 2TT3 Lecture Notes - Yellow Journalism, Pragmatism, Individualism
10 Nov 2012
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Ancient greece: what we remember through song and poetry oral truth. Plato: what is true is somehow linked to rationality and intellect, not knowable by experience (allegory of the cave exemplifies the fallacies of experience when it comes to knowing truth). Medieval times: what god or the king says. Enlightenment: what is verifiable, replicable, universal cast in secular terms, corresponding to external facts. The basis of the ideal of objectivity in journalism. Pragmatism: depends on individual perception and context. Press becomes less partisan to appeal to broader audience and advertisers: because support is gained through political advertising. Reaction to the 1890s yellow journalism which used sensationalism and fabrication to increase circulation: opinion relegated to specific pages, fact to others. Philosophical foundations in enlightenment view of truth. Changing notion of truth is there an objective truth: pragmaticism indicates not, as the truth becomes relevant to who researches it.
