Mind's Eye insouciance

One way to make sense of recent political events is to reflect on the role of epistemic

insouciance in political debate. Epistemic insouciance is a casual lack of concern or

carelessness about the facts, an indifference to whether one's assertions have any basis in

reality. It implies an excessively nonchalant attitude towards the challenge of finding answers

to complex questions, partly as a result of a tendency to view such questions as less complex

than they really are. The primary product of epistemic insouciance is bullshit in Harry

Frankfurt's sense. Epistemic insouciance is an epistemic posture rather than a stance. It is an

epistemic vice, both in the sense that it gets in the way of knowledge and is blameworthy or

otherwise reprehensible. Epistemic insouciance is different from epistemic malevolence. The

latter is a stance rather than a posture. Epistemic insouciance is illustrated by the conduct of

some parties to the Brexit debate in the UK. A compelling example of epistemic malevolence

is the 'tobacco strategy'.

Is this a term (insouciance) we cab all use in thinking of our political and social conditions?

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