Dr. Stockmann and Truth

In Act IV of Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People, Dr. Stockmann makes a rather bold statement about the longevity of truth. In his animated speech to the public and his principle adversaries he states, “What sort of truths are they that the majority usually supports?” and goes on to answer his own question by saying “They are truths that are of such advanced age that they are beginning to break up. And if a truth is as old as that, it is also a fair way to become a lie, gentlemen.” In these comments Dr. Stockmann is suggesting that there are no universal truths that transcend generations and that, instead, each generation must employ its own great thinkers to discover some new region of understanding or to modify what was previously taken as truth. The implications of such an argument are substantial, as to constantly be refining elemental truths could possibly throw a society into disarray. Imagine if, as Dr. Stockmann is proposing, our society suddenly changed its opinion regarding majority rule and instead let a few enlightened elites run the government without public input. A change such as this would totally overthrow our system of democracy. But it is exactly these kinds of dramatic change that Dr. Stockmann wants, as he sees the need for a paradigm shift in the opinions of the masses. Almost the entire town is against him in placing science and public health above politics and economics, and he therefore wishes for a complete revolution in thinking. In a sense, Dr. Stockmann wants not only for the townspeople to accept the fact that the baths are unsanitary, but also for the masses to be more accommodating to the ideas of “the scattered few amongst us, who have absorbed new and vigorous truths.”

Dr. Stockmann’s own sense of truth also changes considerably throughout the play. Specifically, he originally believes in the value of the majority’s support, but later comes to distance himself from the masses and claim that the common people base their judgments on lies. In Act II after speaking with Aslaksen, Dr. Stockmann answers his wife’s question regarding the worth of having the “compact majority” behind him by remarking, “I should think it was a good thing. By jove, it’s a fine thing to feel this bond of brotherhood between oneself and one’s fellow-citizens!” But as public support for his scientific findings wanes, Dr. Stockmann comes to adopt a less positive outlook towards the masses, which culminates in his heated speech at Captain Horster’s house in which Dr. Stockmann claims that “it is the masses, the majority – this infernal compact majority – that poisons the sources of our moral life and infects the ground we stand on.” It is hence that Dr. Stockmann’s impression of the compact majority changes from one of a strong respect to one of absolute disdain as the play progresses. Thus, Dr. Stockmann’s truth regarding the masses is altered as a result of the changing external circumstances that envelope him.