Daring to tell the truth from the greek’s good citizen, to Nietzsche’s relativism and Foucault’s care of the self

Abstract

Throughout humanities’ history, telling the truth has always been seen or for that matter understood, as a challenge, as a defiance of the status quo or what is established or known, and could very easily be torn down by an announced truth at any given moment. That is the main reason a speaker, in most cases, will avoid expressing their interpretation of what is real and true, and will prefer to intentionally alter it with convenient and accommodating lies that will not result in any type of discomfort for the people around them. This text presents a general overview of three very important and crucial moments in history, in which daring to tell the truth came to be the very philosophical foundation and gave some specific characters in history the importance and relevance they have been given today. First, it covers a brief review of the ancient Greek term Parrhesia, its relation to other relevant philosophical terms and its importance within the different philosophy schools of the era. Later, the process of how truth is started to be manipulated from a Christian stance and later the proposal of relativity from Friedrich Nietzsche. Finally, there will be a reflection about Michael Foucault’s proposal that relates parrhesia to the care of the self. As a conclusion, an open discussion focusing on the recent post-truth issues illustrating the mechanics involved since ancient times in regard to telling the truth.