alethophobia

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀλήθεια (alḗtheia) +‎ -phobia.

Noun

alethophobia (uncountable)

1. (psychology) A fear or dislike of the truth; an unwillingness to come to terms with truth or facts.

   Antonym: alethophilia

   • 1875 April, “The Question of Organic Evolution”, in Quarterly Journal of Science, volume 12, page 202:

     Is her "official science" fatally smitten with alethophobia?

   • 2007, Manoucher Parvin, Alethophobia: Fear of Truth : a Novel:

     If Alethophobia infects even one person, we can never attain universal unity.

   • 2010, Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership:

     It sounds like a rare and serious psychiatric disorder, but I'm betting that two out of three people suffer from alethophobia.

   • 2016, Leo Zaibert, The Theory and Practice of Ontology, page 258:

     And the root of such blindness, hostility, or indifference, cognophobia, misology (Kant) and "alethophobia” (or rather, fear of correct beliefs), is a past in which interest, interest-driven epistemic desires and interrogative stances have regularly lost out to a variety of practical considerations in particular to fear of unpleasant discoveries.

Derived terms

• alethophobe
• alethophobic

See also

• truthaphobia