The Ethics of Doubt - Kierkegaard, Scepticism and Conspiracy Theory

古代的怀疑论者把对知识的怀疑看作是一种生活方式，而从笛卡尔到今天的哲学家则主要把它看作是一个只需要理论解决的智力问题。本项目旨在通过关注一个最被主流认识论所忽视的人物--索伦·克尔凯郭尔来挑战这一普遍假设。本项目的核心目标是：* 将克尔凯郭尔的存在主义认识论与当代主流进行对话，特别是在知识恶习（如缺乏知识勇气）与各种形式的怀疑主义之间的关系方面。虽然美德认识论是目前一个蓬勃发展的话题，知识勇气和知识之间的联系仍然完全未被探索，无论是在认识论本身还是在更广泛的文化辩论中。研究激进怀疑主义（认为我们可能对世界一无所知）和全球阴谋论之间的相似之处。由于激进怀疑论在认识论中被非常认真地对待，而阴谋论往往被驳回，这就提出了一个问题：如果全球阴谋论有什么问题，激进怀疑论是否也有同样的问题？反过来说，如果我们不能摒弃激进的怀疑论，那么我们是否同样不能摒弃全球阴谋论呢？运用克尔凯郭尔关于知识需要勇气的洞察力来应对我们这个时代的核心挑战：对知识、专业知识和权威失去信心。这场大流行引发了阴谋论和“假新闻”的空前激增，而此类调查从未像这次大流行那样令人压抑。该项目将在沿着三个方面带来突破性的结果：历史（克尔凯郭尔对怀疑的存在主义回应），理论（知识罪恶和怀疑主义之间的关系），和应用（知识勇气和知识怀疑主义之间的关系，在更广泛的文化）。

While the ancient sceptics regarded scepticism about knowledge as a way of life, philosophers fromDescartes to the present day have viewed it primarily as an intellectual problem that requires only atheoretical solution. This project intends to challenge this common assumption by focussing on a figurealmost entirely overlooked by mainstream epistemology: Soren Kierkegaard.Core aims of the project are:*To bring Kierkegaard's existential epistemology into dialogue with the contemporary mainstream, inparticular in respect to the relation between the intellectual vices, such as a lack of intellectualcourage, and various forms of scepticism. Although virtue epistemology is currently a boomingtopic, the connection between intellectual courage and knowledge remains entirely unexplored,both within epistemology itself as well as in wider cultural debates.*To examine the similarities between radical scepticism (the thought that we may know nothingabout the world) and global conspiracy theories. Since radical scepticism is taken very seriously inepistemology, while conspiracy theories tend to be dismissed, this raises the questions: If somethingis wrong with global conspiracy theories, is something equally wrong with radical scepticism?Conversely, if we cannot dismiss radical scepticism, can we similarly not dismiss global conspiracytheories?*To apply Kierkegaard's insight that knowledge requires courage to a central challenge of our time:loss of faith in knowledge, expertise and authority. Never has such an investigation been morepressing than in the current pandemic, which has given rise to an unprecedented surge in conspiracytheories and 'fake news'.The project will deliver ground-breaking results along three dimensions: historical (Kierkegaard'sexistential response to doubt), theoretical (the relation between intellectual vice and scepticism), andapplied (the relation between intellectual courage and knowledge scepticism in the wider culture).