Philosophy lunch: The truth according to Foucault

Presented by Judith Revel, philosopher

"The truth is obtained by several methods, by a set of strategies within a field of power dynamics. It is neither the expression of a correspondence with reality nor the manifestation of a universal principle. The truth is a product of history, a result of social and political practices that are constantly shifting. What is true in a given era is the result of what are called regimes of truth, a set of rules that define what can be said, what can be known, and what can be considered legitimate or not. Truth is not simply a fact: it is a system of rules and practices that legitimise certain discourses and exclude others."

Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge (Galllimard, 1969).