I feel like the motivating cry for a lot of people in this room is: what the hell is going on right now? The world is suddenly full of conspiracy theorists, climate
change denialists, anti-vaxxers, and white supremacists. In grappling with all this, some have taken an approach which has come to be known as vice epistemology.
The misinformation crisis, according to this approach, can be substantially explained by thinking about people’s bad epistemic character. As Quassim Cassam
puts it, “epistemic vices are defined as character traits,attitudes or thinking styles that systematically obstruct the gaining, keeping or sharing of knowledge” (2018). Take, for instance, Cassam’s analysis of Oliver the conspiracy theorist, who is a 9/11 truther. Oliver believes that 9/11 was an inside job — that it wasn’t the result
of a plane crash, but a controlled demolition by secret government agents. Oliver, says Cassam, isn’t reasonable. His beliefs have been “conclusively refuted” by
“reputable studies”. He “should have known better but doesn’t” (2016, 162). The best explanation for Oliver’s beliefs is bad intellectual character. He is “gullible,
cynical, and prejudiced” (2016, 163).