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Sucht oder Autonomie?

Neue ExpertInnen im Netz

authored by
Nicola Mößner
Abstract

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant number of people has seemingly been lured in believing conspiracy theories. Many deliberately disregarded expert advices by virologists and physicians to reduce new infections. This turning away from traditional expert authorities exemplifies the »crisis of expertise« that has been discussed in the philosophy of science for some time, namely that many people seem to have lost their trust in the established authority of expert knowledge and are looking for epistemic alternatives, especially on the Internet and in particular on social media. In this article, this digital cultural trend will be analysed. Will people actually becoming more epistemically autonomous as a result of this new tend? Attention is drawn to the epistemic and moral vulnerability of people who opt for new media as epistemic alternatives instead of relying on traditional expert opinion. It will be shown that some important presuppositions about the Internet and, especially, social media tools as alternative ways to gathering information and find moral support in a group of likeminded people do not hold.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Philosophy
Type
Contribution to book/anthology
Pages
197-217
No. of pages
20
Publication date
27.08.2024
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
Electronic version(s)
(Access: Open)