Abstract
According to a naturalist conception of what counts as a disorder, conspiracy beliefs are pathological beliefs if they are the outcome of a cognitive dysfunction. In this article, I take issue with the view that it is pathological to believe a conspiracy theory. After reviewing several approaches to the aetiology of conspiracy beliefs, I find that no approach compels us to view conspiracy beliefs as the outcome of a dysfunction: a speaker's conspiracy beliefs can appear as implausible and unshakeable to an interpreter, but in a naturalist framework it is not pathological for the speaker to adopt and maintain such beliefs.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Transcultural Psychiatry |
Early online date | 1 Aug 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 1 Aug 2023 |
Keywords
- cognitive dysfunction
- conspiracy theories
- implausibility
- pathology
- unshakeability
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