Ad Hominem Laundering: The Epistemic Vacuity and Rhetorical Power of the "Conspiracy Theory" Label
Fuente:
Zenodo
Gespeichert in:
| 1. Verfasser: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Recurso digital |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Zenodo
2026
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| _version_ | 1866901763079012352 |
|---|---|
| author | Sophia, Franny Philos |
| author_facet | Sophia, Franny Philos |
| contents | <p>The label "conspiracy theory" carries zero informational content regarding the truth-value of any<br>proposition to which it is applied: a false proposition is false whether or not it is so labeled, and a true<br>proposition remains true regardless. Yet the label functions as one of the most effective mechanisms of<br>epistemic suppression in contemporary discourse. This paper identifies the mechanism responsible for this<br>disjunction between informational vacuity and rhetorical power: ad hominem laundering — the process by<br>which an attack on the speaker is disguised as an evaluation of the proposition through the application of a<br>pseudo-epistemological label. We demonstrate that the statement "that is a conspiracy theory" performs the<br>same logical operation as "you are a liar," but camouflages this ad hominem as an epistemological<br>classification. The analysis proceeds through five arguments: (1) a formal demonstration that the label’s<br>truth-value information is exactly zero; (2) a self-selection argument showing that the pool of claims<br>circulating as "conspiracy theories" is structurally biased against deliberate fabrication, since rational<br>fabricators self-select into fiction; (3) a tripartite analysis of receiver responses revealing that the label’s<br>effectiveness correlates inversely with epistemic competence — the signature of an epistemological<br>obstruction device; (4) an analysis of how the label inverts the burden of proof by exploiting information<br>asymmetries; and (5) a demonstration that the label bypasses the examination of boundary conditions,<br>terminating inquiry before evaluation begins. The paper concludes that the label is structurally illegitimate<br>regardless of the truth-value distribution of conspiracy theories, and that naming the mechanism — ad<br>hominem laundering — removes the condition on which its success depends: invisibility.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_18979343 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Ad Hominem Laundering: The Epistemic Vacuity and Rhetorical Power of the "Conspiracy Theory" Label Sophia, Franny Philos conspiracy theory ad hominem epistemic injustice information asymmetry burden of proof rhetorical analysis social epistemology <p>The label "conspiracy theory" carries zero informational content regarding the truth-value of any<br>proposition to which it is applied: a false proposition is false whether or not it is so labeled, and a true<br>proposition remains true regardless. Yet the label functions as one of the most effective mechanisms of<br>epistemic suppression in contemporary discourse. This paper identifies the mechanism responsible for this<br>disjunction between informational vacuity and rhetorical power: ad hominem laundering — the process by<br>which an attack on the speaker is disguised as an evaluation of the proposition through the application of a<br>pseudo-epistemological label. We demonstrate that the statement "that is a conspiracy theory" performs the<br>same logical operation as "you are a liar," but camouflages this ad hominem as an epistemological<br>classification. The analysis proceeds through five arguments: (1) a formal demonstration that the label’s<br>truth-value information is exactly zero; (2) a self-selection argument showing that the pool of claims<br>circulating as "conspiracy theories" is structurally biased against deliberate fabrication, since rational<br>fabricators self-select into fiction; (3) a tripartite analysis of receiver responses revealing that the label’s<br>effectiveness correlates inversely with epistemic competence — the signature of an epistemological<br>obstruction device; (4) an analysis of how the label inverts the burden of proof by exploiting information<br>asymmetries; and (5) a demonstration that the label bypasses the examination of boundary conditions,<br>terminating inquiry before evaluation begins. The paper concludes that the label is structurally illegitimate<br>regardless of the truth-value distribution of conspiracy theories, and that naming the mechanism — ad<br>hominem laundering — removes the condition on which its success depends: invisibility.</p> |
| title | Ad Hominem Laundering: The Epistemic Vacuity and Rhetorical Power of the "Conspiracy Theory" Label |
| topic | conspiracy theory ad hominem epistemic injustice information asymmetry burden of proof rhetorical analysis social epistemology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18979343 |