What Should I Believe and Who Can I Trust?

Catalog description

While the internet democratized access to information, it also unleashed a torrent of disinformation and misinformation. The effects are being felt throughout society from climate change denial to conspiracy theories to political polarisation, giving new urgency to the questions that social epistemology seeks to answer. How does information spread through social networks, virtually and in real life? Should we trust knowledge-producing institutions and experts? Why? What forms of social organisation and norms are conducive to true beliefs? What do we owe each other as knowers? In this class, we will explore these vital questions through a series of contemporary philosophical papers. This is an introductory class and no previous experience of epistemology is required.