The Epistemology of Deceit in a Postdigital Era

This edited book collection offers strong theoretical and philosophical insight into how digital platforms and their constituent algorithms interact with belief systems to achieve deception, and how related vices such as lies, bullshit, misinformation, disinformation, and ignorance contribute to deception. This inter-disciplinary collection explores how we can better understand and respond to these problematic practices.

The Epistemology of Deceit in a Postdigital Era: Dupery by Design will be of interest to anyone concerned with deception in a 'postdigital' era including fake news, and propaganda online.  The election of populist governments across the world has raised concerns that fake news in online platforms is undermining the legitimacy of the press, the democratic process, and the authority of sources such as science, the social sciences and qualified experts. The global reach of Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms has shown that they can be used to create and spread fake and misleading news quickly and without control. These platforms operate and thrive in an increasingly balkanised media eco-system where networks of users will predominantly access and consume information that conforms to their existing worldviews. Conflicting positions, even if relevant and authoritative, are suppressed, or overlooked in everyday digital information consumption. Digital platforms have contributed to the prolific spread of false information, enabled ignorance in online news consumers, and fostered confusion over determining fact from fiction.

The collection explores:

• Deception, what it is, and how its proliferation is achieved in online platforms.
• Truth and the appearance of truth, and the role digital technologies play in pretending to represent truth.
• How we can counter these vices to protect ourselves and our institutions from their potentially baneful effects.

Alison MacKenzie's academic background is in Philosophy of Education. She is the Director of the Masters programme for Special Educational Needs and Inclusion at Queen's University, Belfast. She is interested in how injustice and inequality are reproduced and sustained by forms of ignorance, testimonial and hermeneutical injustices, lack of access to important capitals such as linguistic capital, and by the ways in which ordinary vices are often overlooked as important sources of injustice, such as cruelty, misogyny, or hypocrisy.

Jennifer Rose's academic background is in Philosophy of Education. She is primarily interested in epistemology, epistemic practices, related psychologies, how they foster or hinder social justice initiatives, and how education can respond. She completed her PhD  at Queen's University, Belfast with her thesis focused on knowledge and its role in creating and sustaining injustices. Her professional background is entrepreneurial focused on course development and delivery in a corporate lifelong learning context.

Ibrar Bhatt is a Lecturer in Education at Queen's University Belfast. He specialises in research and teaching related to writing and literacy as a social practice, digital literacies, and contemporary digital epistemologies. He has also published on the fields of digital literacy, epistemologies of trust online, and research methods. He is also a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research into Higher Education, and a convener of its Digital University Network. He is an Executive Editor for the journal Teaching in Higher Education.