According to the Oxford Dictionary a conspiracy is: A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful and The action of plotting or conspiring Cambridge Dictionary seems to take similar approach; it says that a conspiracy is: the activity of secretly planning with other people to do something bad or illegal. Based on these two definitions we can draw up a theory that a conspiracy theories are stories or plots of sinister and illegal events or deeds committed by evil people (sort of villains) to harm the humanity. Slightly different approach to conspiracy can be found in the Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories by James McConnachie and Robin Tuge. They write that: To conspire once meant to “breath together”. It is an image of the most intimate and secretive complicity, perfectly conjuring smoky political backrooms, sinister whisperings …show more content…
But all these definitions listed above have something in common; They state that conspiracy is illegal and harmful act of plotting against someone or some group. It is always done in secret. That is why so many people come up with so many different and wild conspiracy theories. They think that the knowledge of a true nature of a certain event is hidden from the society and they look for the most possible (or improbable) explanation. Jessie Walker, a writer interested in conspiracy topic, has created five basic kinds of conspiracy theories: The “Enemy Outside” – a group of ‘villains’ scheming outside community to harm it. The “Enemy Within” – conspirators mixed with ordinary people, undistinguishable from them. The “Enemy Above” – people ‘in power’ that are manipulating law and the system for their own good. The “Enemy Below”- people of lower classes conspiring to overturn the social order. The “Benevolent Conspiracies” – a group or forces that work secretly to improve the world and help
governments or other groups with the intent to destroy - in whole or in part- a national,
Brian Keeley’s short essay, “Of Conspiracy Theories” discusses conspiracy theories and their value in an epistemological context. Keeley defines a conspiracy theory as “a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events) in terms of the significant causal agency of a relatively small group of persons-the conspirators-acting in secret (Keeley 1999, pg. 116).” Keeley seeks to answer the question of why conspiracy theories are unwarranted. His interest in the warrant of conspiracy theories focuses on ¬the unfalsifiability of conspiracy theories and how conspiracy theories are founded upon an extraordinarily large amount of skepticism. In section III, Keely discusses what a conspiracy theory is, and contends that there is no grounds for
2) What is the premise of the argument regarding Frank Capell and Jack Clemmons' conspiracy theory?
The Internet has played a large role in my interest in conspiracy theories. Although I definitely do not believe all of them, they are fun to look into and are good tools for procrastination. Falling deeper into the hole that is Wikipedia, I spent a large amount of my free time “researching” them. It got to the point where I had to force myself to actually work on homework instead. However, I am not one of those crazy conspiracy theorists; I am only interested in ones that seem legit. All interesting conspiracy theories have similar qualities. A majority of them involve the government or celebrities. And depending on the theory, they are believable.
In her introduction Baker uses the example of Boston bombings to describe the theories formed by people in the happening of an event. There are two reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories. Firstly, due to psychological reasons and secondly because they believe
Throughout history, people have attempted to come up with explanations to make sense of events which could not be comprehend, such explanations are commonly known as conspiracy theories. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the official definition of conspiracy theory is “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” These theories can range from minor events, to large scale terrorist attacks. A few well known theories include, Bill Clinton caused 9/11, the Earth is flat, and a reptilian race is planning to take over the Earth. Conspiracy theories can inflict various amount of damage, but it dependent on the conspiracy theory context. (Mckay). In an
Bill O’Reilly’s and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln delves into the events leading up to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the repercussions upon the people involved, as well as a detailed analysis of the ongoing war efforts and the affects one has upon the other. While unraveling the conspiracy and its members, the reader is given compelling evidence and speculative reasoning that leads the reader to believe that the plot to assassinate Lincoln involves additional people, and could in fact be a conspiracy that reaches into the regions of power far above what is historically proven.
A conspiracy theory is a theory that argues that the rich and those with power seek the make sure the criminal justice system fails because they benefit from that failure. Conspiracy theories are hard to be proven and for it to succeed, it has to be kept a secret. There’s no credibility in the sources due to the degree of secrecy. Conspiracy theories are invalid because it doesn’t correspond with how people behave most of the time. The Pyrrhic defeat theory isn’t a conspiracy theory because the theory bases itself on why the criminal justice system fails and that’s due to our own shortcoming of not trying hard enough to prevent it.
In the world today there are events that happen and have stories untold. On the rise are many different twists that come about from events happening. “63 percent of registered American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory according to a recent poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University” (“Theories Prosper”). There are many different conspiracy theories in the world today including, included in the top ten lists of conspiracy theories is the Sandy Hook elementary shooting, the Boston Marathon bombings, as well as the September 11th terrorist attacks. Ever wonder how a conspiracy theory comes alive and what is all needed to justify the meaning of a conspiracy theory?
As a general rule, crime involves combination of act and criminal intent. A crime is committed when it is acted upon with a criminal intent. An act of crime without a criminal intent is not a crime. Once an idea of a crime has been communicated and planned out it is considered a conspiracy. A conspiracy is a crime. The crime is justified due to
In 1605, a group of young and angry Catholics decided that they had enough of King James I, and decided to take over the kingdom of England. They planned to destroy the Protestant government by murdering the most important men in the kingdom. Many people since think that the Gunpowder Plot was a conspiracy theory to make the Catholics even more unpopular in society. Others think that the traditional story that they had been taught for generations was true. In order to find out we have to consider the actions that make the Gunpowder Plot look like a conspiracy theory and the traditional story.
The new deviancy theorists believed in free will and creativity. According to this theory, crime is that behaviour which violates the interests of the powerful. The definition of crime or deviance depends upon two activities: one, an act of an individual or a group, and second, another individual or group with different values must label the initial activity as deviant.
“The Conspirator”directed by Robert Redford is a new historical drama.The basic ethical and political problems are the murder of the president and the simultaneous coordinated attempts on the lives of Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward which throw Washington into panic. After John Wilkes Booth is killed in a shootout with soldiers, his fellow plotters are arrested and tried, not by a jury of their peers but by a committee of officers.
To most a fairy tale, to some an interesting topic of discussion, however, to a small population, 5 % to be exact, Government conspiracy does exist. How, you might ask, do I intend to prove that indeed government conspiracy is real? I do not intend to prove it. In fact I only intend to inform you of its ever growing ploy of world domination, capitalism and control and open your mind to the idea that government conspiracy is out there. Throughout history as it is known to repeat itself, I will show facts that support this “theory” and dismiss the legendary lies we have been taught to believe through a system known as memetics.
Conspiracy is an arrangement between more than one people to commit a crime. An overt act is “an act taken by one of the parties of a conspiracy in furtherance of one or more of the criminal objectives of the conspiracy” ("Conspiracy", n.d.). There are many requirements that must be met in order for a suspect to be charged with a conspiracy crime. The first requirement would be for the suspect to have to agree to commit a crime. The next requirement is for the suspect complete the intent of the conspiracy when they go into the agreement. An overt act must be more than just the evidence of conspiracy. One of the parties must do it in the agreement in order to move towards the completing of conspiracy ("Overt Act - Elements of the Crime - Conspiracy", n.d.).