ABSTRACT
At least in principle, conspiracy theories can force epistemic authorities to improve and clarify the received explanations of political events. In history, further investigations have sometimes started in part due to flourishing conspiracy theories and rumors. However, most of us feel that conspiracy theorizing is not morally unproblematic, and in this chapter, I will ask why conspiracy theorists can be held collectively responsible for their activities. I will distinguish between (1) developers and publishers and (2) ordinary believers and disseminators of conspiracy theories and argue that they both are “collectively” responsible.
