Magic, myth, and secret masters: towards a philosophy of conspiracy from a philosophy of persons

Simon Smith

doi:10.59391/k93yvy42

Authors

Simon Smith https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5732-2551

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59391/k93yvy42

Keywords:

evolutionism, Camus, Flat Earth, conspiracy theory, philosophy of persons

Abstract

Given that philosophy is supposed to help us understand what’s going on, this ought to be a boom-time for practitioners. There is, after all, so much going on, not least in the world of conspiracy and disinformation. This essay seeks to understand one particular conspiracy theory: the Flat Earth. Freudian psychology, with support from Camus, offers an initial diagnosis. Drawing on a concept of ‘personhood’ as essentially interpersonal, however, urges us to look further than psychic disturbance. An examination of what the Victorians did to Darwin reveals what lies beneath the conspiratorial mindset: a refusal to accept dehumanising determinism and reductive materialism on even geodetic terms, coupled with a demand that the universe be big enough and absurd enough to accommodate human experience and human imagination. Unearthing these subconscious cellar dwellers may be a crucial first step in constructing a philosophy of conspiracy for this brave new world.

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