VII—Can arguments change minds?
Abstract
Can arguments change minds? Philosophers like to think that they can. However, a wealth of empirical evidence suggests that arguments are not very efficient tools to change minds. What to make of the different assessments of the mind-changing potential of arguments? To address this issue, we must take into account the broader contexts in which arguments occur, in particular the propagation of messages across networks of attention, and the choices that epistemic agents must make between alternative potential sources of content and information, which are very much influenced by perceptions of reliability and trustworthiness. Arguments can change minds, but only under conducive, favourable socio-epistemic conditions.
Citation
Dutilh Novaes , C 2023 , ' VII—Can arguments change minds? ' , Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society , vol. 123 , no. 2 , pp. 173-198 . https://doi.org/10.1093/arisoc/aoad006
Publication
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0066-7374Type
Journal article
Description
ISBN: 9780198859765. Funding: This research was generously supported by the European Research Council with grant ERC-2017-CoG 771074 for the project ‘The Social Epistemology of Argumentation’.Collections
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