Journal: Misinformation and Personal Responsibility

Read and consider the two philosophical passages below. Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, was an American author, theorist, educator, and social critic who was a distinguished professor in residence at Berea College.

After reading the following two passages, complete your journal entry by reflecting upon and discussing the questions that follow.

Passage one by hooks (1999):

It is no accident that when we first learn about justice and fair play as children it is usually in a context where the issue is one of telling the truth. The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be. In recent years sociologists and psychologists have documented the fact that we live in a nation where people are lying more and more each day.

Passage two by hooks (2006):

Without an ethic of love shaping the direction of our political vision and our radical aspirations, we are often seduced, in one way or the other, into continued allegiance to systems of dominationimperialism, sexism, racism, classism. It has always puzzled me that women and men who spend a lifetime working to resist and oppose one form of domination can be systematically supporting another. I have been puzzled by powerful visionary black male leaders who can speak and act passionately in resistance to racial domination and accept and embrace sexist domination of women, by feminist white women who work daily to eradicate sexism but who have major blind spots when it comes to acknowledging and resisting racism and white supremacist domination of the planet. Critically examining these blind spots, I conclude that many of us are motivated to move against domination solely when we feel our self-interest directly threatened . . . If we are only committed to an improvement in that politic of domination that we feel leads directly to our individual exploitation or oppression, we not only remain attached to the status quo but act in complicity with it, nurturing and maintaining those very systems of domination. Until we are all able to accept the interlocking, interdependent nature of systems of domination and recognize specific ways each system is maintained, we will continue to act in ways that undermine our individual quest for freedom and our collective liberation struggle.

Answer each of the questions below, supporting your answers by providing details.

• Discuss how truth-telling connects to your own life. Consider personal beliefs or values, past experiences with truth, lies, misinformation, and examples from this course.
• Explain the claim presented about justice and evaluate its reasoning. Then review your own reasoning and critically examine possible influences on your beliefs.
• Does the pursuit of truth relate to a moral life? Does it relate to creating a fair and just society? Explain your answers. How do you see your own personal responsibility in these matters?