Moral Panics

Carolina Flores (University of Lisbon)

Abstract: The Satanic ritual abuse allegations that swept through daycare centres, the early modern witch trials that sent suspected sorcerers to the gallows, recurring fears of “immigrant invasions,”  and crusades against violent video games and TikTok all involve intense collective concern and anxiety towards a perceived threat. Reactions of this kind are often called “moral panics.”  But what exactly are moral panics, and what is wrong with them? Despite the recent focus on socio-epistemic dysfunctions such as conspiracy theories and echo chambers, there has been no systematic philosophical treatment of moral panics. Our goal in this paper is to provide the first philosophical account of moral panics: of their nature, moral implications, and potential strategies to combat them. In our view, moral panics are a form of collective rumination: more precisely, a temporally extended surplus of collective attention on a perceived threat. We provide a model of how moral panics arise and stabilize via a feedback loop between collective affect and circulating narratives, fuelling backlash against shifts in social norms. Moral panics are particularly damaging when they arise in response to norm changes that would be socially desirable, blocking reform and cementing unjust social meanings. Moreover, because of the fixation on the perceived threat, moral panics distort political priorities, diverting attention from more pressing issues and producing short-termist and often detrimental policies. Our account illuminates how moral panics are a crucial vehicle for enforcing and stabilizing moral norms and illustrates the immense power of collective attention.  

More details about the talk series here: https://elisewoodard.org/ppe2026