Abstract Matthew Shields (2022) raises two criticisms of generalism: that it makes unjustified general claims about Conspiracy Theorists and that it fails to consider “Dominant Institution Conspiracy Theories and Theorists” (DITs) as paradigm cases, despite the fact that they are... Read More ›Source| Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective
In “Rethinking Conspiracy Theories: Method First! A Reply to Shields”, Sanja Dembić pushes back against elements of my article “Rethinking Conspiracy Theories” (2022). Dembić starts her reply by giving a clear and accurate reconstruction of my main argument. I present a novel critique of generalism—the view that conspiracy theories are epistemically defective by their very nature. (To indicate that this is the relevant meaning, I’ll continue with Quassim Cassam’s convention of...| Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective
For many philosophers, it doesn’t seem right to say that we are mainly in the business of trying to describe our concepts. We are, at our best, trying to improve them. ‘Conceptual engineering’ describes this vision of philosophical practice. It is not hard to see its appeal. This metaphilosophical orientation gives us a clear mission that caters to what many take to be our distinct skill set: a combination of conceptual analysis and normative argument. … [please read below the rest of...| Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective