The stark realism of Primo Levi’s experiences of the Shoah is considered in
light of the current political climate in which the authoritarian other induces a
divergence between reality, a state of things as they actually exist or existed, and truth,
that which to some extent accords to reality. In this paper I will consider how truth
becomes divorced from reality by considering Giegerich’s interpretation of Plato’s
Parable of the Cave, arguing that truth is affected by perception and belief. After
addressing ‘truth’ in justice, analytic work and the family, the post-truth phenomenon
is discussed and defined as a force erosive to reason and sensibility; its general purpose
is to avoid doubt and anxiety. The past is interpreted and re-interpreted to advance
multiple geopolitical interests. Levi warned, in 1976, that the authoritarian state
considers it quite permissible to alter the perception of what is true.
See: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-5922.12517
