Defining rumor

Authors

  • Felipe de Matos Müller Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2016.2.26236

Keywords:

Testimony. Rumor. Evidence.

Abstract

In this essay, I will critically analyze three definitions of rumor. In the first section, I will consider the C. A. J. Coady’ account (2006), in which the rumor is a case of apparent testimony, but it is not a case of genuine testimony. In the second section, I will consider the definition of rumor offered by David Coady (2006), in which the rumor spreads in a large chain without official status. In the third section, I will consider the definition of rumor of Axel Gelfert (2013), in which
the rumor does not have independent corroboration by either firsthand evidence or official sources. In the fourth and last section, I will propose a definition, in which rumor is a case of genuine testimony without official confirmation, whose original source was lost or never existed.

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References

ALLPORT, G. W.; POSTMAN, L. The psychology of rumour. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1947.

COADY, C. A. J. “Pathologies of Testimony”. In: LACKEY, J.; SOSA, E. (Eds.). The Epistemology of Testimony. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. p. 253-71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276011.003.0012

COADY, C. A. J. Testimony: A Philosophical Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.

COADY, David. Rumour has it. International Journal of Applied Philosophy, 20 (2006), p. 41-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/ijap20062012

COADY, David. What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

GELFERT, A. Coverage-reliability, epistemic dependence, and the problem of rumorbased belief. Philosophia, 41 (2013), p. 763-786. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-012-9408-z

GELFERT, A. A critical introduction to testimony. Sydney (Australia): Bloomsbury, 2014.

KNAPP, R. H. Psychology of Rumor. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 8 (1944), p. 22-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/265665

LACKEY, J. The nature of testimony. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 87 (2006), p. 177-197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0114.2006.00254.x

SUNSTEIN, Cass. A verdade sobre os boatos – como se espalham e como acreditamos neles. Rio de Janeiro: ELSEVIER, 2010.

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Published

2016-12-31

How to Cite

Müller, F. de M. (2016). Defining rumor. Veritas (Porto Alegre), 61(2), 425–436. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2016.2.26236

Issue

Vol. 61 No. 2 (2016): Ontological realism, mathematical ontology and logic

Section

Varia

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