Fighting falsity: essays on deceiving, objecting, and conspiring

Aird, Rory (2025) Fighting falsity: essays on deceiving, objecting, and conspiring. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis is comprised of five discrete but related chapters in applied, social, and political epistemology. Specifically, most of the thesis is centred around fighting falsity; that is, for example, what should you do when one someone asserts something wrong, outlandish, or flat-out dangerous to you or those around you? What is the best course of action if you come across such a claim on the internet? What sort of claims even are wrong, outlandish, or flat-out dangerous? I open with a discussion of bullshit and identify a new phenomenon I call “hedged bullshitting” which I argue is a superlative form of deception we ought to be concerned about. I turn in chapter two to a discussion of what makes for an epistemically good objection (and forbearance from objecting), employing the influential performance-normative framework from virtue epistemology to answer this. I then call for caution in chapter three; objecting can and will go wrong, especially when it comes to certain controversial false assertions, thus we ought to not be so laissez-faire when it comes to engaging with interlocutors. In light of this call for reticence, I explore a different method of fighting falsity in chapter four: censorship and no-platforming. While potentially effective strategies, I argue they make for hiltless swords—they cannot be safely used. In the final chapter, I offer a broad critique of the philosophy of conspiracy theories, rejecting almost every widely held assumption in the literature. I offer my own, more satisfactory definition of conspiracy theories that I argue will best advance the literature.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities and the Royal Institute of Philosophy.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Philosophy
• Funder's Name: Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities, Royal Institute of Philosophy
• Supervisor's Name: Carter, Professor J. Adam and Gordon, Dr. Emma
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85555
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 27 Oct 2025 16:33
• Last Modified: 27 Oct 2025 16:34
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85555
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85555

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