Fake News, Bullsh*t, Echo Chambers, and other Topics in Applied Socio-Political Epistemology

What can we know? Who can we trust? What should we do when our peers disagree with us? What are echo chambers and polarization and should we avoid them? What are the epistemic powers of democracies and free speech? What is the difference between lies, bullsh*t, and fake news? Is it reasonable to believe in gossip, rumors, miracles, or conspiracy theories? These are some of the big questions that will be covered in this course, which applies traditional theories of knowledge to a wide range of contemporary issues concerning testimony and disagreement. 

Part One: Testimony

Miracles

Hume: “Of Miracles”

Conspiracy Theories

Keeley: "Of Conspiracy Theories"

Sunstein and Vermeule: "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures" & Coady: "Cass Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule on Conspiracy Theories"

Gossip 

C. Coady: “Pathologies of Testimony” (253-262)

Ayim: "Knowledge Through the Grapevine: Gossip as Inquiry"

Rumor

C. Coady: "Pathologies of Testimony" (262-269) & D. Coady: “Rumour Has It”

Sunstein: "On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, and What Can Be Done"

Epistemic Injustice 

Cassam: "Vice Epistemology"

Fricker: "Epistemic Injustice and a Role for Virtue" & "Prejudice in the Credibility Economy" (36-41) & Anderson: “Epistemic Justice as a Virtue of Social Institutions”

Prejudice

Fricker: "Prejudice in the Credibility Economy" (30-35) & Begby: "The Epistemology of Prejudice"

Battaly: "Vice Epistemology has a Responsibility Problem"

Moral Encroachment

Moss: "Moral Encroachment"

Gardiner: "Evidentialism and Moral Encroachment"


Part Two: Socio-Political Epistemology 

Peer Disagreement

Feldman: "Reasonable Religious Disagreements"

Expertise

Goldman: "Experts: Which Ones Should You Trust?" 

Democracy

Anderson: “Epistemology of Democracy”

Free Speech

Goldman and Cox: "Speech, Truth, and the Free Market for Ideas"

Polarization

Kelly: "Disagreement, Dogmatism, and Belief Polarization"

Bullsh*t

Frankfurt: "On Bullshit"

Fake News

Rini: “Fake News and Partisan Epistemology”

Echo Chambers

Nguyen: "Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles"