In this article I explore how William Godwin depicted the social operation of media, and argue that his writing highlights a crosscurrent of alethic thought in Romantic-period Britain. I examine his direct assessments of the social merits of book-reading and conversation, revealing his ambivalence regarding sources of epistemic authority. I argue that he inherited this ambivalence from his Dissenting educational background, most especially the two-fold conception of truth that it negotiated. I thus situate Godwin's scrutiny of media in the alethic dialogue of his time, and offer this context as a helpful perspective upon his wider work.

中文翻译：

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“传播方式的危险”：威廉·戈德温谈真相和社交媒体

在本文中，我探讨了威廉·戈德温 (William Godwin) 如何描绘媒体的社会运作，并认为他的作品突出了浪漫主义时期英国的道德思潮。我检查了他对读书和谈话的社会价值的直接评估，揭示了他对认知权威来源的矛盾心理。我认为他从他的异议教育背景中继承了这种矛盾心理，尤其是它谈判的双重真理概念。因此，我将戈德温对媒体的审查置于他那个时代的道德对话中，并提供这种背景作为对他更广泛工作的有益视角。