From Plato to Aristotle, Russell to Wittgenstein, we traditionally see philosophers as engaged in the disinterested pursuit of truth - a view philosophers themselves are inclined to encourage. But in a postmodern world, shaped by Richard Rorty's claim that philosophy is merely a form of 'cultural politics', few now imagine that truth with a capital 'T' can be uncovered.
Must we abandon the ideal of a philosophy devoid of motives and social goals? If so, how is such a philosophy to be distinguished from literature, or politics? Should we hold on to philosophy as the pursuit of the one true story of the world, with logic and rationality central to the endeavour, are these themselves rhetorical tools to convince the unwary?
Novelist and former UN conflict advisor Janne Teller, director of the Institute of Philosophy Barry C. Smith and philosopher of metaphysics Silvia Jonas take truth and neutrality to task.