On Gaslighting

The origin of this now familiar term goes back to a 1944 film, and this searching philosophical study investigates it as a distinctive moral phenomenon involving interpersonal interaction and a process of emotional manipulation with a view to undermining a person – especially their reasoning and judgement. The various chapters examine the aims, methods and means of gaslighters, then the nature of social structures in relation to subjugation and gaslighting, followed by examples characterised as a moral horror show and, crucially, the relationship between trust and gaslighting. Typically, the victim is characterised as oversensitive by a person or group exerting power – sometimes structural – and it often occurs in response to someone’s protest against discriminatory conduct. The example of Amanda Knox wrongly convicted of murder provides a chilling instance. Trust in consensus and authority can also be weaponised, as we saw during Covid.

Gaslighting is characterised as a form of manipulation, which itself is morally wrong. The author argues that these wrongs have significant epistemic dimensions, undermining a person’s sense of themselves as moral agent with intrinsic value, doing considerable psychological damage in the process. The moral wrongs are summarised on pp. 154-155, including silencing – here the argument could have been extended to censorship and definitions of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation used for the purposes of narrative control. This has led to widespread distrust of authority, which cannot be restored by the same means, but rather entails transparency, honesty and integrity. Trust is seen as a normative framing attitude that can be abused and betrayed – it has to be earned rather than imposed. Overall, this is a valuable analysis of an important topic.