Philosophy and the Fabrication of Truth:

Nietzsche, Foucault, Plato, and Baudrillard in the Metaphysical Constructs of Select Cults

Abstract

Examining cults from metaphysics to epistemology, this study also analyses the construction
and dissemination of truth from a cultic belief–system perspective. Cults generally profess to
know the ultimate truth–whether metaphysical or esoteric–and, hence, they often take
themselves to be the only bearers of knowledge and the true nature of reality. Drawing on
postmodern and existentialist theories, this research examines the tension between subjective
truth and objective reality, thereby critiquing the creation of cults as their own metaphysical
systems and knowledge frameworks. Through a study of cults such as The Branch Davidians
(David Koresh), The Rajneesh Movement, and Heaven’s Gate, this study will examine how
these groups present their worldviews as higher or ultimate truths, using philosophy to support
their doctrines. The paper is strongly informed by Michel Foucault’s concept of epistemic power:
it examines how certain structures control knowledge, how knowledge is constructed, and how
it is distributed within society to exert control over cult followers by producing an exclusive
truth. In addition, the study shall include hyperreality theory by Jean Baudrillard, which
postulates that cults manufacture an illusory picture of reality for their adherents. This paper
shall, in studying and commenting on the productive clashes of these cults’ manufactured truths
with the search for truth in larger philosophical traditions such as Plato’s Cave Allegory and
Nietzsche’s critique of absolute truths, explore how these cults pose questions to the traditional
epistemological discussions of knowledge and truth now. Ultimately, cults are the subjects of
sociological critique, but cults can also be understood as philosophical examples that challenge
metaphysical and epistemological views about truth.