Abstract
The high volume of fake news in the last decade has mobilized actions to promote corrections. In education, instruments emerge that aim to enable students to recognize biased information. Despite their importance, these attempts are not always enough, and in some cases, they can have the opposite effect, increasing belief in disinformation. In this context, based on the theory of affects by Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), the general objective of this essay is to bring evidence that helps to understand beliefs in fake news and, consequently, to think about an education that allows greater effectiveness in its corrections. In methodological terms, it is proposed, in deepening the bibliographical investigation, to rescue the philosophical reflections, especially in the work “Ethics – Demonstrated in Geometric order”. Findings suggest that the ontological innovation in Spinoza’s project consists of indicating that men use little reason in the ethical constitution of society, since they are moved by affections that interfere in the ways in which good and bad are valued. This makes room for an analogy about the dynamics of fake news, since lack of education is not always the most relevant factor in believing fake news. In contrast, the philosopher’s thinking can be useful for pondering about educational forms of correcting fake news, based on the concatenation and ordering of affects, in situations that involve readings of fake news.
Keyword
Fake news
;
Espinosa
;
Misinformation
;
Affects