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Short abstract:

What does it mean for a system of knowledge production or dissemination to be called corrupt? In accounts of corruption, how does a system become degraded or debased, and by what kinds of actors and processes? Here we present a preliminary taxonomy, along with some model cases.

Long abstract:

The Roman physician Galen begins his On My Own Books with an anecdote: “One day, I was in the Street of the Sandal-Makers (where most of the Roman booksellers are) when I saw some people arguing about whether a book that was for sale was one of mine or by someone else.” He goes on to express concern about the poor quality – even the “mutilation” – of his work in the copies being circulated.

In the early 2010s, the pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt was involved in more than 876 contracts – with medical education and communication companies, key opinion leaders, publishers, and others – to shape medical views on opioids. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency the company was at that point the “kingpin within the drug cartel.”

In our terms, both of these cases can be described in terms of epistemic corruption, but as a result of different kinds of forces, situated in different moral economies of knowledge, and resulting in different practical concerns. What does it mean for a system of knowledge production or dissemination to be called corrupt? In accounts of corruption, how does a system become degraded or debased, and by what kinds of actors and processes? In this presentation we will outline a preliminary taxonomy of kinds of epistemic corruption, along with some model cases.