Whence pseudoscience? An epidemiological approach

Authors

  • Stefaan Blancke Ghent University (Belgium).
  • Maarten Boudry Ghent University (Belgium).
  • Johan Braeckman Ghent University (Belgium).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.8.10007

Keywords:

pseudoscience, epidemiology of representations, human cognition, epistemic vigilance, science mimicry

Abstract

In this paper, we develop an epidemiological approach to account for the typical features and persistent popularity of pseudoscience. An epidemiology of pseudoscience aims at explaining why some beliefs become widely distributed whereas others do not and hence seeks to identify the factors that exert a causal effect on this distribution. We pinpoint and discuss several factors that promote the dissemination of pseudoscientific beliefs. In particular, we argue that such beliefs manage to spread widely because they are intuitively appealing, manage to hitchhike on the authority of science, and successfully immunize themselves from criticism.

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Author Biographies

Stefaan Blancke, Ghent University (Belgium).

Philosopher at Ghent University (Belgium). He currently studies the diffusion of (pseudo-)scientific beliefs in the history of science, science education, and the public understanding of science from a cognitive and epidemiological perspective. His other interests include the relation between science and religion, and the philosophy of cultural evolution. He is co-editor of the volume Creationism in Europe (Johns Hopkins UP, 2014) and of the forthcoming volume Perspectives on science and culture (Purdue UP, 2018).

Maarten Boudry, Ghent University (Belgium).

Postdoc researcher on philosophy of science at Ghent University (Belgium). In 2011, he wrote his dissertation on pseudoscience, Here be dragons: Exploring the hinterland of science . On the same topic, he co-edited  Philosophy of pseudoscience: Reconsidering the demarcation problem (The University of Chicago Press, 2013), with Massimo Pigliucci. His most recent book is Illusies voor gevorderden. Of waarom waarheid altijd beter is  (“Seeking untruth. The quest for beneficial illusions”, Polis, 2015). A new edited volume on the limits of science, entitled  Science unlimited? On the challenges of scientism (The University of Chicago Press), is scheduled to appear in the fall of 2017.

Johan Braeckman, Ghent University (Belgium).

He studied philosophy at Ghent University (Belgium), Human Ecology at the Free University of Brussels (Belgium) and Environmental History at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA). His doctoral thesis addressed the influence of the theory of evolution on philosophy. He has published books on Darwin and evolutionary biology, cloning, the history of philosophy, bioethics, and critical thinking, and several articles in peer-reviewed journals. At Ghent University, he teaches courses on the history of philosophy, the history of biology, philosophical anthropology, and critical thinking. For five years, he also taught courses on bioethics and the philosophy of science at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands).

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Published

2018-06-05

How to Cite

Blancke, S., Boudry, M., & Braeckman, J. (2018). Whence pseudoscience? An epidemiological approach. Metode Science Studies Journal, (8), 133–139. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.8.10007
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Issue

Making science: A multitude of perspectives (2018)

Section

The scam of pseudoscience

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