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What can we know and what should we believe about today's world? What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues applies the concerns and techniques of epistemology to a wide variety of contemporary issues. Questions about what we can know-and what we should believe-are first addressed through an explicit consideration of the practicalities of working these issues out at the dawn of the twenty-first century.Coady calls for an 'applied turn' in epistemology, a process he likens to the applied turn that transformed the study of ethics in the early 1970s. Subjects dealt with include:* Experts-how can we recognize them? And when should we trust them?* Rumors-should they ever be believed? And can they, in fact, be a source of knowledge?* Conspiracy theories-when, if ever, should they be believed, and can they be known to be true?* The blogosphere-how does it compare with traditional media as a source of knowledge and justified belief?Timely, thought provoking, and controversial, What to Believe Now offers a wealth of insights into a branch of philosophy of growing importance-and increasing relevance-in the twenty-first century.

What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues

Preface ix1 Introduction 12 Experts and the Laity 273 Epistemic Democracy 594 Rumors and Rumor-Mongers 865 Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracy Theorists 1106 The Blogosphere and the Conventional Media 1387 Conclusion 169Postscript: Government Surveillance and Privacy 175References 188Index 197