2023/05/24 by Catarina Dutilh Novaes · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics #Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies #Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/arisoc/aoad006
openalex publication_date 2023/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
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.