Ever since the term ‘conspiracy theory’ was first popularised by the philosopher Sir Karl Popper in the 1950s, conspiracy theories have had a bad reputation. To call a theory ‘a conspiracy theory’ is to imply that it is false, and that the people who believe it or who would like to investigate it (i.e., ‘conspiracy […]
Full Citation Information:
David Coady (2021) Conspiracy theory as heresy, Educational Philosophy and Theory, DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2021.1917364
David Coady
David Coady is a Senior Lecturer in philosophy & gender studies in the School of Humanities, University of Tasmania, Australia. David's research covers a wide variety of philosophical topics, applied philosophy, and applied epistemology. He has published on rumour, conspiracy theory, the blogosphere, expertise and democratic theory, the metaphysics of causation, the philosophy of law, climate change, cricket ethics, police ethics, and the ethics of horror films. His books include: What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues (2012); The Climate Change Debate: an Epistemic and Ethical Enquiry (2013); Conspiracy Theories: the Philosophical Debate (2006) and A Companion to Applied Philosophy (2016).
Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Ferguson in 1893. The map contains several references to biblical passages as well as various jabs at the "Globe Theory". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth