The Need for Evaluative Criteria: Conspiracy Argument Revisited

Marilyn J. Young Marilyn J. Young is Associate Professor of Communication, and Michael K. Launer is Professor of Russian at Florida State University, TallahasseeFL32306. Curtis C. Austin is a Legislative Analyst for the Florida Senate. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Ray McKerrow for his support and guidance.

Michael K. Launer Marilyn J. Young is Associate Professor of Communication, and Michael K. Launer is Professor of Russian at Florida State University, TallahasseeFL32306. Curtis C. Austin is a Legislative Analyst for the Florida Senate. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Ray McKerrow for his support and guidance.

Curtis C. Austin Marilyn J. Young is Associate Professor of Communication, and Michael K. Launer is Professor of Russian at Florida State University, TallahasseeFL32306. Curtis C. Austin is a Legislative Analyst for the Florida Senate. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Ray McKerrow for his support and guidance.

Abstract

Since the conspiratist Weltanschauung uses logical or rhetorical fallacies to conceal the issues and exploit the ambiguities of uncertain situations, this essay advocates the application of traditional tests of evidence and argument to conspiratist discourse. Using the conspiracy interpretation of the Soviet shootdown of Korean Air Lines 007 as an exemplar, the authors demonstrate that conspiratist arguments, by their very nature, demand that the critic develop an evaluative system to explicate the dynamics of such arguments.

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