Stop Talking about Fake News!

Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 62 (9-10):1033-1065 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Since 2016, there has been an explosion of academic work and journalism that fixes its subject matter using the terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. In this paper, I argue that this terminology is not up to scratch, and that academics and journalists ought to completely stop using the terms ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. I set out three arguments for abandonment. First, that ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ do not have stable public meanings, entailing that they are either nonsense, context-sensitive, or contested. Secondly, that these terms are unnecessary, because we already have a rich vocabulary for thinking about epistemic dysfunction. Thirdly, I observe that ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ have propagandistic uses, meaning that using them legitimates anti-democratic propaganda, and runs the risk of smuggling bad ideology into conversations.

Similar books and articles

What is fake news?Romy Jaster & David Lanius - 2018 - Versus 2 (127):207-227.
The Problem of Fake News.M. R. X. Dentith - 2016 - Public Reason 8 (1-2):65-79.
Post-truth and fake news.Michael A. Peters - 2017 - Educational Philosophy and Theory 49 (6):567-567.
Fake News and Partisan Epistemology.Regina Rini - 2017 - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 27 (S2):43-64.
Fake News, False Beliefs, and the Need for Truth in Journalism.Aaron Quinn - 2017 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 31 (1):21-29.
Fake News, False Beliefs, and the Need for Truth in Journalism.Aaron Quinn - 2017 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 31 (1):21-29.
Fake News: A Definition.Axel Gelfert - 2018 - Informal Logic 38 (1):84-117.
Aesthetics of Fake. An Overview.Andrea Mecacci - 2016 - Aisthesis: Pratiche, Linguaggi E Saperi Dell’Estetico 9 (2):59-69.
Il Fascino Ingannevole Della Dotta Citazione.Guido Del Giudice - 2018 - Biblioteca di Via Senato (5):66-69.
Fake Identities in Social Network Research: To Be Disclosed?Shunhai Qu & Viroj Wiwanitkit - 2014 - Science and Engineering Ethics 20 (4):1151-1151.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-07-16

Downloads
3,550 (#1,234)

6 months
188 (#5,111)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Joshua Habgood-Coote
University of Leeds

References found in this work

How to Do Things with Words.John Langshaw Austin - 1962 - Clarendon Press. Edited by Marina Sbisá & J. O. Urmson.
Logical Foundations of Probability.Rudolf Carnap - 1950 - Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago University of Chicago Press.
Individualism and the mental.Tyler Burge - 1979 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 4 (1):73-122.

View all 68 references / Add more references