A traditional view holds that ignorance is simply the absence of knowledge. This view has recently been challenged by the Normative Account, which sees ignorance as involving a normative failure. In this paper, we argue that both perspectives capture important insights. Drawing on three empirical studies, we propose a two-senses account of ignorance, according to which there exist two notions of ignorance: one normative, the other non-normative. We also offer a new explanation of the normative aspect. Our findings suggest that (...) what is negative in being ignorant lies in the expectation that one ought to know the relevant fact. (shrink)

The ethics of belief is concerned with what we should believe. This paper is on the ethics of conspiracy belief: should we sometimes believe in conspiracy theories? In the first part, we discuss whether conspiracy theorists are responsible for their beliefs. We argue that they are. Conspiracy beliefs are subject to robust epistemic evaluations since they can be sufficiently responsive to epistemic reasons, thus differing from paradigmatic delusions. In the second part, we consider the epistemic rationality of conspiracy belief. We (...) claim that someone who has reasons to distrust existing authorities (members of marginalized groups are prime examples) can rationally believe in conspiracy theories. To defend this claim, we spell out a mechanism that leads from rational distrust to rational conspiracy belief. We build on insights about the nature of rationality, the social nature of knowledge, and knowledge from the internet. Finally, we consider specific epistemic harms of conspiracy theories. We argue that these harms can render conspiracy beliefs unjustified while not infringing on their rationality. This allows us to carve out an interesting subclass of beliefs in conspiracy theories that are worthy of philosophical and scientific attention: conspiracy beliefs that are rational yet unjustified. We thereby intend to push the debate to more epistemically nuanced evaluations. (shrink)