Key Takeaway
“If, then, no one can determine what is ‘true’ in the traditional sense of the word, all that remains are generally accepted articles of faith, which can, of course, be overturned the very next day. There is no usable criterion of truth except whatever is proclaimed true at a given moment. […] This is the great cognitive triumph of totalitarianism: it can no longer be accused of lying, because it has succeeded in abolishing the very concept of truth.”
Context
Kołakowski’s essays frequently explored the epistemological roots of totalitarianism and dogmatic ideologies. The passage quoted here continues that line of thought, examining how totalitarian power eliminates the very notion of objective truth. For Kołakowski, this process is not merely a moral catastrophe but a cognitive one, severing the individual and society from their relationship with reality.
Summary
In his 1983 essay, the Polish philosopher examines the relationship between totalitarian systems and truth, or more broadly, between a political system and the “truth” it presents to its own society. Kołakowski points out that under totalitarianism, language is not used to describe reality but to manufacture it. According to the passage, the ultimate aim of totalitarian systems is not simply to spread lies — because a lie still implicitly acknowledges that there is such a thing as truth — but to eliminate the objective distinction between truth and falsehood altogether. This process amounts to the continual redefinition of reality according to the immediate needs of those in power. In this way, the “great cognitive triumph” of totalitarianism does not consist in establishing an ideal truth, but in eliminating the possibility of falsehood and replacing it with a constructed truth that is presented as flawless and beyond refutation. From this perspective, today’s “post-truth” phenomenon, or what is commonly described as the relativization of facts, is not merely a by-product of pluralism of ideas. Rather, it represents a classic manifestation of the totalitarian impulse.
