| Abstract [eng] |
Conspiracy theories, although they have become an everyday part of public life, are still poorly understood. In this philosophy dissertation, the author examines the definitions of conspiracy theories, their relationship with belief in witches, demons, and ontological worldview. The work analyzes what conspiracy theories are, what their features are, how and why they are similar to modern beliefs in witches and demons, explores the analogous functioning of conspirators and evil forces in conspirological and demonological texts, and also analyzes how the transition from metaphysics-centric worldview to an epistemology-centric worldview transformed demonological beliefs and allowed conspiracy theories to take hold. The dissertation defends the thesis that conspiracy theories (like witch trials) are not some kind of fossil, an archaic relic of an ancient view of the world, but rather a side effect of a modern, everything-doubting and everything-questioning ontological paradigm to the world. |
