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Tarasenko V.V. [The sociological turn: truth as a contract] Political Science and Technology, 2026, Vol. 6, Iss. 2 Available at: https://politicjournal.ru/PDF/01PK226.pdf (in Russian).

The sociological turn: truth as a contract

Tarasenko Vladislav Valerievich
Bauman Moscow State Technical University (National Research University), Moscow, Russia
E-mail: v5093075@gmail.com

Abstract. The article analyzes the evolution of the concept of truth from the classical correspondence theory to contemporary sociological and constructivist conceptions. It examines the relationship between truth and the problem of demarcation of scientific and non-scientific knowledge, as well as the question of science’s monopoly on truth. Special attention is paid to the «Strong Programme» of the Edinburgh School (David Bloor, Barry Barnes), Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, and contemporary discussions of post-truth, the marketing construction of truth, and scientific corruption. The concept of communicative truth implemented through organizational systems is introduced, using the Hirsch index as an order parameter (in terms of Hermann Haken’s synergetics). A Kantian and Gestalt-psychological interpretation of the marketing construction of truth is proposed: the Hirsch index as a transcendental phenomenon organizing social space-time, and the reconstruction of the background for recognizing the figure of marketing truth. Using the case study of the sugar industry, it is demonstrated how cherry-picking creates the illusion of scientific consensus; the concepts of «global survivor bias» and «anthropic shadow» are introduced to explain the systematic distortion of truth in the symbiosis of marketing and science. Leskova’s concept of «double panic» is used to explain how «truth as a contract» disintegrates into multiple incompatible conventions under conditions of digital polarization and anomie. The conclusion formulates key tensions between correspondence and conventional theories of truth and proposes a distinction between ontological and epistemological components as a possible path toward resolving these contradictions.

Keywords: truth; contract; social epistemology; Strong Programme; constructivism; post-truth; cherry picking; scientific corruption; demarcation of science; cognitive biases; falsifiability; order parameter; survivor bias; anthropic shadow; transcendental phenomenon; Gestalt psychology; double panic; social anomie

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