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

Franco Lo Piparo

Franco Lo Piparo

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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