On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It

The “philosopher of truth” (Jill Lepore, The New Yorker) shows why truth is an essential democratic value—and how it can be strengthened.

“In this book, Michael Patrick Lynch makes a compelling, down-to-earth case for the necessity of truth. His argument is vitally important and timely, especially in our disturbing age of political regress, in which fair elections are declared stolen and bizarre conspiracy theories are held by a staggering number of people.”—Cheryl Misak, author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers

Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture (WW Norton, 2019). Winner 2019 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. 

“This book is both a treasure and a treat—that rare volume that is philosophically rich, politically relevant, and lyrically written.” – Eboo Patel, author of Out of Many Faiths

“A start and engaging critique of the tribal arrogance that's so common in contemporary life, by one of our leading public philosophers. Lynch has a lot of provocative ideas—about social media, the rise of Donald Trump, whether we have to listen to neo-Nazis, and much else—and his rich book is a delight to engage with.” – Paul Bloom, Yale Professor of Psychology and author of Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion

“Professor Lynch not only diagnoses the reasons for our current predicament but also suggests ways in which we can begin to challenge our tribal arrogance. Know-It-All Society is an important (and wonderfully readable) book.” – David Demonds, Host of BBC's The Big Idea

The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data  (Liverite/W.  W.  Norton, 2016, Audio  book,  Penguin Random  House).  Kirkus  starred  review  2015.

With far-reaching implications, this urgent treatise promises to revolutionize our understanding of what it means to be human in the digital age.

The paradox confronting us today is that even as we know more and process information at a faster rate, we reason, think, and understand less. While a wealth of literature has been devoted to similar topics, the deep philosophical implications of this seismic shift have not been properly explored until now. Demonstrating that knowledge based on reason plays an essential role in society and that there is more to knowing than just acquiring information, leading philosopher Michael P. Lynch shows how the modern Internet has distorted not only the way we learn and communicate but also the very essence of what it means to be human. Charting a path from Plato’s cave to Shannon’s mathematical theory of information to Google Glass, Lynch builds on previous works by Nicholas Carr, James Gleick, and Jaron Lanier to give us a necessary guide for how to navigate the philosophical quagmire that is the Information Age.