The Titanic Never Sank Conspiracy: Warranted or Unwarranted?

Unwarranted Conspiracy Theory Definition

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" [1], and according to his definition the Titanic conspiracy is, in fact, a conspiracy. (Visit this link to read more about the conspiracy: [2], and visit this link to read more about how Keeley's definition relates to the Titanic conspiracy: [3].) Keeley, however, defines a subset of conspiracy theories named Unwarranted Conspiracy Theories or UCTs for short. We will use Keeley's definition of UCTs to determine if whether we are prima facie warranted or unwarranted in believing the conspiracy in question. To accomplish this task we must first define what a UCT is according to Keeley. According to Keeley, a CT must meet five specific requirements to be considered a UCT. These requirements are:

  1. A UCT is an explanation that runs counter to some received, official, or "obvious" account.
  2. The true intentions behind the conspiracy are invariably nefarious.
  3. UCTs typically seek to tie together seemingly unrelated events.
  4. As noted, the truths behind events explained by conspiracy theories are typically well-guarded secrets, even if the ultimate perpetrators are sometimes well-known public figures
  5. The chief tool of the conspiracy theorist is what I shall call errant data [4].

To learn more about Keeley's definition for a UCT visit this link: http://conspiracytheory.wikidot.com/wiki:unwarranted-conspiracy-theory

Is It A UCT?


1. The official story of the Titanic’s sinking, as mentioned in the introduction, goes that the ship accidentally struck an iceberg and sank in the middle of the Atlantic, an unforeseeable tragic event. However, the conspiracy theory argues against the official story (runs counter to the official story), claiming that the boat was not the Titanic but the Olympic and that it was purposefully sunk.
2. In this conspiracy theory, we see that the intentions of the White Star Line Company are not good intentions (intentions are nefarious). The company sinks the boat in an attempt to commit insurance fraud.
3. This conspiracy also offers many different connections between unrelated events. One of the most prominent and central connections of the conspiracy is the fact that the Olympic was involved in a crash with another boat, before the voyage of the Titanic. The conspiracy attempts to tie together the crash of the Olympic as a reason to why the Titanic (Olympic in disguise) sank later in the Atlantic.
4. As mentioned before, the White Star Line company includes a small group of investors and executives that would have been the conspirators. One of these conspirators would have been J.P. Morgan, a well known American financier and banker. Despite well-known public figures being conspirators, the secret that the Olympic (disguised as the Titanic) was purposefully sunk is a “well-guarded secret.”
5. Keeley states that the main tool for conspirators is what he calls errant data. In this case, there is a plethora of errant data, but one of the most widely used errant data is the pictures comparing the Titanic with the Olympian. In this picture, many conspiracy theorists, explain that the boats were so strikingly similar that we wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Other errant data used is that the Titanic’s insurance was increased five days before it’s first voyage; the conspiracy theory offers an explanation for this data that the official story does not.

In all the conspiracy fits all of the requirements for a UCT, so according to Keeley, this is an unwarranted conspiracy theory.

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