Brian Keeley’s short essay, “Of Conspiracy Theories” discusses conspiracy theories and their value in an epistemological context. Keeley defines a conspiracy theory as “a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events) in terms of the significant causal agency of a relatively small group of persons-the conspirators-acting in secret (Keeley 1999, pg. 116).” Keeley seeks to answer the question of why conspiracy theories are unwarranted. His interest in the warrant of conspiracy theories focuses on ¬the unfalsifiability of conspiracy theories and how conspiracy theories are founded upon an extraordinarily large amount of skepticism. In section III, Keely discusses what a conspiracy theory is, and contends that there is no grounds for distinguishing a warranted conspiracy theory from an unwarranted conspiracy theory (UCT). Keely expands upon section III in section IV, by introducing falsifiability and skepticism and giving a deeper analysis on the difficulties of UCTs. In section V, he discusses the issues raised and the implication of their popularity. A brief conclusion is given is section VI, in which he discusses the morals that should be taken away from the essay.
Section III and IV go hand-in-hand in discussing UCTs in particular. Understanding why people are not warranted in believing certain conspiracy theories will make it clearer as to why we ought to believe other things that are in contrast. He first discusses where UCTs go wrong. Section III discusses the problem of trying to define UCTs, and illustrates the challenges in finding straightforward criteria for distinguishing good conspiracy theories from bad ones. Keeley expresses concern for UCTs, and offers five criteria for distinguishing UCTs from conspiratoria...
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...articular. Understanding why one is not warranted in believing certain conspiracy theories will make it easier to understand why we ought to believe other things. It also gives reasons to believe that some conspiracy theories will certainly have plausibility to them. Keeley goes through with this analysis by discussing the problem of trying to define UCTs, and illustrating the challenges for finding criteria for distinguishing good theories from bad ones. He then highlights values of UCTs that make them particularly attractive and explain their popularity. He also discusses the grounds for rejecting these values, as they the very reason for UCTs being unwarranted. He discusses how directly confronting UCTs means having to decide between the almost “nihilistic” skepticism and absurdism. He concludes that it is philosophies job to look for an answer to this problem.
Conspiracy theories accuse others of a cover up by secret planning. They may be based on a hunch or even backed by evidence. To the curious mind, they bring about unanswered questions that have attracted the attention of many people throughout history. Among some of the more popular theories are the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the death of Princess Diana; alien encounters in Roswell, New Mexico; and the idea that Elvis may still be alive. Perhaps the most intriguing theory, because of our neighboring location, is the underground bunker and seemingly strange characteristics at the Denver airport.
Several rhetorical concepts are used to approach the readers of this article, these being proofs known as reasoning (logos), credibility (ethos), and emotion (pathos). Conspiracy theorists, such as Mock, often use logic or reason to attract readers. They understand that conspiracies are seen as lies and paranoia, so to build their audience they appeal to their logical side. In today’s society logic is everything, and being able to prove something is what is important. Making a reference to a factual document or book is always a source of proof. The reference towards a dictionary is used because it is something we use every day, something that is impo...
Holt, Richard. "Apollo 11 Moon Landing: Conspiracy Theories Debunked." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 15 July 2009. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
1. The fact that two dozen police showed up to arrest Oswald for the assassination is believable, the fact that two dozen police showed up for a call in for not paying for a movie ticket is absurd and suspicious.
In researching this and many other conspiracy theories, one can see many uses of sensationalism, mainly by the media. This media- the news (local and national), magazines, tabloids, television shows, movies, and so on- has a huge e...
On November 22, 1963, at 12:30 in the afternoon, President John F. Kennedy was shot at and killed while participating in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. The most important question that arises from this incident is ‘Who killed President John F. Kennedy?’ This is an issue which has been debated by scholars, The Government, and even common people alike. Many people seem to feel that it was a conspiracy, some large cover-up within a cover-up.
Power is earned, not given. There are many different types of power that people can earn. Power becomes a problem when it is not questioned or tested. Therefore, the one with the power would have total control over anything or anyone they wanted, or they would feel that way. People with power feel invincible when it is not questioned. Throughout history it has been proven that this creates a problem. For example, Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal is similar to the scandal with Father Flynn in Doubt. Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley, exemplifies an underlying message that unquestioned faith leads to abuse of power. Specifically, shown in Father Flynn’s reputation, cover up, and resignation, which all correlate to Richard Nixon’s Watergate Scandal.
Conspiracy theories are intriguing to everyone. When there is secrets being hidden, people tend to seek out for answers. It is typical in human nature for us to be curious and want to know everything. When there is a problem to be solved, we take it as an initiative to go look for answers. We observe and wonder, leading to the discovery of many possible solutions. The possibility of the trail being left by airplanes being top-secret government projects is relatively high. Tests have proven that the number of harmful chemicals and aerosols have increased in our environment. The blame has been put on chemtrails, similar to regular airplane contrails, but these release harmful chemicals that affect the environment, risking our health and survival,
McDuffee, Allen. "Conspiracy Theories Abound After Navy Yard Shooting." Wired.com. Condé Nast, 20 Sep 2013. Web. 17 Oct 2013.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and one of our countries most notable figures in history, was assassinated on April 14, 1865. In today’s society, many believe there are conspiracy theories about almost everything that the government has done, but many do not think that conspiracies could date back as far as mid 1860’s. The discussion of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the well thought out shooting and escape, and the days that follow are going to be closely examined throughout this paper. Abraham Lincoln was watching Our American Cousin with his wife and two others at Ford’s Theater when John Wilkes Booth, a
Clifford’s arguments for this conclusion is that if we are gullible enough to believe something without evidence then we are not only harming our individual credibility and intellect but also polluting the rest of society...
John Karkauer novel, Into the Wild tells a true life story about a young man
. At the town of Roswell an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) crash landed in the quiet little town. Many Roswell residents testified that they saw a burning object plummet toward the ground before exploding upon impact. The Air Force's initial reaction to the incident was to tell the world that they did not know what it was. This shows me evidence that they had no “protocol” for this kind of occurrence, thus the Military leader stepped in and covered everything up. This incident caught the attention of citizens of the United States, local officials, and the media. It has especially gained interest in a variety of Special interest groups/ groups that specialize in researching and investigating events that involve UFO’s.
The other conspiracy I wanted to talk about was made by a great Christian man named David Usher. He figured out that there will be three classes of marriage if we allow gay marriage. First off is class1 which is mother mothe...
...fend his theory against refutation. Should his theory been refuted? Furthermore, how can we identify a true falsifier as opposed to falsifiable falsifier? Since falsifiable falsifier can loom over theories for as long as decades, perhaps pseudoscientific theories such as Marxism and Freudianism are only temporarily unable to explain their falsifiers? The problem of the falsifiable falsifier poses some serious questions that could undermine Falsificationism.