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Michael P. Lynch
Michael Patrick Lynch at Senate House
Era Contemporary philosophy
Region Western philosophy
School Analytic
Main interests
Truth
Epistemology

Michael Patrick Lynch [1] is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut. He is also the director of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. [2] As director of the Humanities Institute, he has headed a Templeton-funded project on humility and conviction in public life. [3]

Career

Lynch's early work focused on his pluralist theory of truth. He holds that truth is a functional property, i.e. that it is characterized by a particular function that can be realized in many different ways. For instance, some truths might realize truth's function by corresponding to reality while others might do so by cohering with a larger set of propositions. [4] [5] His work on the value of truth has also attracted attention, including critical reactions from philosophers ranging from Marian David [6] to Richard Rorty. [7]

Lynch has also worked on epistemology, especially epistemological issues related to big data and democracy. [8] Lynch argues for the importance of intellectual humility in democracy. [9]

Writing

Lynch is the author of Truth in Context ( MIT Press, 1998), True to Life (MIT Press, 2004), Truth as One and Many (OUP, 2009), In Praise of Reason (MIT, 2012), and The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data ( Liveright Publishing, 2016) as well as many professional philosophical articles. [10] [11] [12] [13] He was editor of the volume The Nature of Truth: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (Bradford Books, 2001), co-editor with Professor Heather Battaly of the volume Perspectives on the Philosophy of William P. Alston (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), as well as co-editor with Professor Patrick Greenough of the volume Truth and Realism (OUP, 2006). [14] [15] [16]

Lynch won the Orwell Award in 2019 for his book Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture. [17]

References

  1. ^ Weinberger, David (2 May 2016). "Rethinking Knowledge in the Internet Age".
  2. ^ Kane, Brendan (2014-07-31). "Michael P. Lynch | Humanities Institute". Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  3. ^ Gunn, Hanna (2016-09-06). "Mission | Humility & Conviction in Public Life". Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  4. ^ See Truth as One and Many (Oxford: [Oxford University Press], 2009)
  5. ^ He has, for instance, argued for a coherence theory of moral truths in Lynch, M., Capps, D. & Massey, D. "A Coherent Moral Relativism" (2009) Synthese 166, pp. 413–430
  6. ^ "On Truth is Good'" Philosophical Books, 2005
  7. ^ "True to Life: Why Truth Matters by Michael Lynch. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. LXXI, no. 1 (July 2005), pp. 231-239.
  8. ^ "The Internet of Us | W. W. Norton & Company". books.wwnorton.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  9. ^ Resnick, Brian (2019-01-04). "Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong". Vox. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  10. ^ Truth in Context Archived 2006-09-14 at the Wayback Machine at the MIT Press
  11. ^ True to Life Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine at the MIT Press
  12. ^ Truth as One and Many at Oxford University Press
  13. ^ In Praise of Reason for the MIT Press
  14. ^ The Nature of Truth: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives for Bradford Books
  15. ^ Perspectives on the Philosophy of William P. Alston for Rowman & Littlefield
  16. ^ Truth and Realism for Oxford University Press
  17. ^ "Michael P. Lynch Honored with 2019 George Orwell Award" (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. October 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.