|
|
- Deepfakes, Deep Harms
Authors: Regina Rini, Leah Cohen
Abstract: Deepfakes are algorithmically modified video and audio recordings that project one person’s appearance on to that of another, creating an apparent recording of an event that never took place. Many scholars and journalists have begun attending to the political risks of deepfake deception. Here we investigate other ways in which deepfakes have the potential to cause deeper harms than have been appreciated. First, we consider a form of objectification that occurs in deepfaked ‘frankenporn’ that digitally fuses the parts of different women to create pliable characters incapable of giving consent to their depiction. Next, we develop the idea of ‘illocutionary wronging’, in which an individual is forced to engage in speech acts they would prefer to avoid in order to deny or correct the misleading evidence of a publicized deepfake. Finally, we consider the risk that deepfakes may facilitate campaigns of ‘panoptic gaslighting’, where many systematically altered recordings of a single person's life undermine their memory, eroding their sense of self and ability to engage with others. Taken together, these harms illustrate the roles that social epistemology and technological vulnerabilities play in human ethical life.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1628
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Fake News and Democracy
Authors: Merten Reglitz
Abstract: Since the Brexit Referendum in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016, the term ‘fake news’ has become a significant source of concern. Recently, the EU Commission and the UK Parliament have condemned the phenomenon as a threat to their democratic processes and values. However, political disinformation is nothing new, and empirical studies suggest that fake news has not decided crucial elections, that most readers do not believe the online fake news stories they read, and that political polarization in Western democracies like the US began to increase long before online fake news existed. The question then is: how exactly does fake news threaten democracies' This paper argues that online fake news threatens democratic processes because it undermines citizens’ epistemic trust in each other. This in turn threatens to undermine the perceived legitimacy of democratic institutions as a whole. While online fake news is a symptom of a much larger issue (how has the Internet affected democracies, and how can we use its positive power while checking its potential harms'), it deserves particular attention given the potential danger it presents for the viability and the legitimacy of the democratic process.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1258
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Discursive Integrity and the Principles of Responsible Public Debate
Authors: Matthew Chrisman
Abstract: This paper articulates a general distinction between two important communicative ideals—expressive sincerity and discursive integrity—and then uses it to analyze problems with political debate in contemporary democracies. In the context of philosophical discussions of different forms of trustworthiness and debates about deliberative democracy, self-knowledge, and moral testimony, the paper develops three arguments for the conclusion that, although expressive sincerity is valuable, we should not ignore discursive integrity in thinking about how to address problems with contemporary political debate. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of a strategy for improving discursive integrity within public political debate by reflecting on which principles of responsible public debate would promote better democratic decision making.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1578
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Epistemic Trepassing and Expert Witness Testimony
Authors: Mark Satta
Abstract: Epistemic trespassers have competence in one field but pass judgment on matters in other fields where they lack competence. I examine philosophical questions related to epistemic trespassing by expert witnesses in courtroom trials and argue for the following positions. Expert witnesses are required to avoid epistemic trespassing. When testifying as an expert witness, merely qualifying one’s statements to indicate that one is not speaking as an expert is insufficient to avoid epistemic trespassing. Judges, litigators, and jurors can often recognize epistemic trespassing by examining a purported expert’s credentials and track record. Judges should not permit recognizable epistemic trespassers to testify as expert witnesses. Litigators should seek to expose recognizable epistemic trespassers during cross-examination. Jurors should treat recognizable instances of epistemic trespassing as a reason to downgrade the testimony of epistemic trespassers.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1599
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Privacy Rights Forfeiture
Authors: Mark Hanin
Abstract: Privacy rights can surely be waived. But can they also be forfeited' If so, why and under what conditions' This article takes up these questions by developing a novel theory of privacy rights forfeiture that draws inspiration from Judith Thomson’s canonical work on privacy. The paper identifies two species of forfeiture rooted in modes of negligent and reckless conduct and argues that both self-directed and other-regarding considerations play a role in grounding forfeiture. The paper also contributes to the literature by proposing a new taxonomy of how Hohfeldian entitlements can be divested generally. It likewise engages at length with a recent article by Benedict Rumbold and James Wilson in which the authors criticize Thomson’s work and appear to reject the very idea of privacy forfeiture. In response, I make the case that Rumbold and Wilson’s forfeiture-free model of privacy is unconvincing on substantive moral grounds.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1633
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Introduction to 'Action and Production'
Authors: Pamela Hieronymi
Abstract: Pamela Hieronymi situates Stephen White's posthumously published 'Action and Production' in the broader context of his work on agency and taking responsibility.
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.2488
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
- Action and Production
Authors: Stephen White
Abstract: Abstract here
PubDate: 2022-07-26
DOI: 10.26556/jesp.v22i2.2487
Issue No: Vol. 22, No. 2 (2022)
|
Open Access journal
