Review by Choice Review
Lynch (Univ. of Connecticut) intertwines two themes. The first, concerning the concept of truth, is a solid survey of the philosophical ideologies that concern themselves with truth, verification, justification, and certainty--including relativism, consilience, postmodernism, pragmatism, and naturalism. Lynch successfully anticipates possible objections without creating straw men. The second part of the book segues into happiness theory and why truth is an integral concept for Aristotelian flourishing. Lynch provides an important distinction between authenticity (knowing the truth about what you care about) and intellectual honesty (caring about truth in general), in a conflation of lives "going better," self-awareness, authenticity, and happiness. However, it is difficult at times to determine whether this is a happiness book that discusses truth, or a book on truth that mentions happiness. Lynch ultimately demonstrates that truth (an integral part of one's self-narrative) is a necessary constituent to a happy personal life, relationships with others, and finally, as support for a liberal democracy. Although not as fluid as R. Belliotti's Happiness Is Overrated (CH, Jun'04), this book does a superior job of blending recondite analytic philosophy of truth and American pragmatism into a unique thesis. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty. S. J. Shaw Prairie View A&M University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
