Post-truth, perception of reality, and public opinion. An approach from phenomenology

Post-truth has become a growing threat to the stability of Western democracies. The electoral processes that have occurred since 2016 have been shaped by the emergence of fake news whose influence on public opinion, although uncertain, has fueled a climate of distrust of all the information available in the public sphere. The present article, of theoretical nature, aims to provide a novel perspective to the academic debate on post-truth, by proposing an approach from phenomenology that, without detracting from the context and the sender, does emphasize the role of beliefs or referential frameworks in the human cognitive process. It is concluded that the loss of social mediation by informed or expert sources is at the base of the prevailing post-truth climate. This context in which the lie is the message represents a direct threat to the very root of democracy, to the extent that the lack of truthful information implies a limitation of the ability of citizens to make free decisions.