Un flauto e tre bambini. Verità, guerra e consenso / A flute and three children. Truth, war and consensus

Franco Lo Piparo

Franco Lo Piparo

Keywords: Truth, language, war, Aristotle, Wittgenstein

Abstract

Why do human beings usually make violence in the name of Truth? The answer is not easy. We try to give some insights for a satisfactory answer. We start by giving an operational definition of the word “truth”, with the help of Aristotle and Wittgenstein. The analysis of a philosophical anecdote by Sen – about three children who want to justify the exclusive possession of a single flute by using rational arguments – brings out the warlike vocation of truth. Finally, we introduce the concept of “rhetorical truth” and we use the last Wittgenstein’s thesis on the inevitable fideistic foundation of rational reasoning.

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