The question of truth within the construction of knowledge on suffering. Although truth occupies a central position in philosophy and the philosophy of science, there is much debate about its actual role in scientific practice. Truth and Suffering explores different conceptions of truth and their profound influence on our understanding and approach to suffering. By discussing how different definitions of truth shape distinct ways of producing knowledge, the analysis prompts reflection on the impact of knowledge production on people's lives.Drawing on the work of authors from psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science, this book challenges dominant mental health paradigms, particularly the hegemony of biologic psychiatry. It resists attempts to naturalise symptoms and emphasises the need for ethical and political factors to be consistently taken into account when addressing suffering.Offering a clear and original approach to an important and complex debate, Truth and Suffering is of interest not only to specialist readers in a variety of fields, ranging from philosophy of science to psychoanalysis, but also provides an introduction to newcomers interested in these discussions.Paulo Beer is a psychoanalyst, professor and researcher in São Paulo, Brazil.This is a very accomplished piece, which manages to stay focused and offer an important contribution to matters of ‘evidence’, ‘truth’ and what that means epistemologically and politically. The work is inviting, fluid, well-written and helpful to many scholars of related fields. - Ana Minozzo, University of Essex Although truth occupies a central position in philosophy and the philosophy of science, there is much debate about its actual role in scientific practice. Truth and Suffering explores different conceptions of truth and their profound influence on our understanding and approach to suffering. By discussing how different definitions of truth shape distinct ways of producing knowledge, the analysis prompts reflection on the impact of knowledge production on people's lives. Drawing on the work of authors from psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science, this book challenges dominant mental health paradigms, particularly the hegemony of biologic psychiatry. It resists attempts to naturalise symptoms and emphasises the need for ethical and political factors to be consistently taken into account when addressing suffering. Offering a clear and original approach to an important and complex debate, Truth and Suffering is of interest not only to specialist readers in a variety of fields, ranging from philosophy of science to psychoanalysis, but also provides an introduction to newcomers interested in these discussions. Foreword: Psychoanalysis and its role in re-founding a politics of truth Nelson da Silva Junior Introduction Truth between knowledge and politics Silencing the truth Ways to ask about the truth Ian Hacking and the critical advocacy of knowledge Truth in psychoanalysis as the denial of the established order Lacan and Hacking Chapter 1: Science between truth and truthfulness 1.1. The question of truth in the philosophy of science Truth and truthfulness Entity realism and critique of representation Intervention Realism The question of language Intervention and causality 1.2 Styles of reasoning The styles and the sciences Methods of reasoning and objects Self-reference Styles and history 1.3 Social construction and radical relativism What is constructed Contingency, nominalism, and stability Variability Chapter 2: Historical ontology and transient mental illnesses 2.1 Truth, evidence, and biological objects Some notes on the discussions about the differences in objects The object and the subject between psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science Influences 2.2 Making up people Interactive kinds and retroaction 2.3 The transient mental illnesses The centrality of knowledge and the niches 2.4 Multiple personality Attempts at validation Memory, truth, and causation Depth knowledge and surface knowledge Memory, truth, and psychoanalysis Chapter 3: A form of truth of its own 3.1 The truth and nothing else The ideal science of psychoanalysis Truth separate from knowledge 3.2 Truth, psychoanalysis, sciences Objects, truths, and falsehoods Resistance between truth and defence Truth and negation: negativity as style Language Stabilisation and experimentation Validation Chapter 4: A historical subject 4.1 Science and subject Lacan and Descartes Non-guaranteed knowledge 4.2 Dynamic nominalism in another style of reasoning The sense of symptoms and the analytic processes Symptom and truth Discontent, suffering, and symptom as effects of negativity Chapter 5: Problems and paths 5.1 Non-transient illnesses and stability Objects, targets, and classifications The reality of illnesses 5.2 The problem of excessive interactivity Depression in Japan The placebo questions Crisis in psychiatry 5.3 A path: truth as cause Truth as formal and material cause Truth, cause, and ethics Truth, negativity, and stability 5.4. One more path: truth and politics Knowledge and politics Truth and the political Conclusion Notes References Acknowledgements Index