The Social Epistemology of Coronavirus

1. Lecture: Introduction Video

The focus of my research and teaching is social epistemology.  That is, I study how people can acquire knowledge in a social world.  In particular, I am interested in both the positive and negative impacts of digital technology on our ability to acquire knowledge.  The internet and smartphones give us easy access to immense computing power and huge databases.  Social media and videoconferencing facilitate communication and collaboration with large numbers of people at great distances from us.  But these digital technologies can also diminish the influence of traditional information gatekeepers, promote belief polarization, and facilitate online deception.

1. Lecture: The Weight of Evidence and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “Pandemic Safety and the Weight of Evidence (or is simply being human a risk factor for novel coronavirus?)”

1. Lecture: Credible Testimony and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “Testimony about the Coronavirus”
3. Reading: Don Fallis, “Credibility in a Crisis”
4. Reading: Don Fallis, “Crying Wolf in Reverse”
5. Reading: Don Fallis, “Appeals to Authority and the Coronavirus”

1. Lecture: Misinformation and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “The Coronavirus Infodemic”
3. Reading: Don Fallis, “More Disinformation about the Coronavirus”

1. Lecture: Gaslighting and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “Gaslighting and the Coronavirus”

1. Lecture: The Future of Lying and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “The Future of Lying in the Era of the Coronavirus”

1. Lecture: Crowdsourcing and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis, “Crowdsourcing and the Coronavirus”

1. Lecture: Privacy and the Pandemic
2. Reading: Don Fallis,“Privacy and the Coronavirus”
3. Reading: Don Fallis, “Privacy versus Safety”

• Shlomo Cohen, “Manipulation and Deception,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy
• Don Fallis & Kay Mathiesen,“Fake News,” Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy
• C. Thi Nguyen, “Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles,” Episteme
• Merilee Salmon, “Statistical Syliogisms,”Logic and Critical Thinking
• Andrew D. Spear, “Epistemic Dimensions of Gaslighting,” Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy