The refutation of pseudoscientific discourse in early XVIII century Russian publicistic prose (a case study of «Historical, Genealogical, and Geographical Notes on the Vedomosti»)

this study focuses on the material «On Alchemy» published in the Historical, Genealogical, and Geographical Notes on the Vedomosti and investigates the strategies employed in early 18th-century Russian publicistic discourse to challenge pseudoscientific knowledge claims. The analysis of the text – whose stated aim was to acquaint readers with available evidence regarding the practices of alchemists – demonstrates a wide repertoire of argumentative techniques directed against fabricated or spurious data. These include rational procedures such as direct refutation, appeal to more authoritative sources, use of counterexamples, reductio ad absurdum, demonstration of contextual incongruity, and source criticism, as well as socio-moral strategies, notably appeals to ethical norms and values, and the use of contrastive oppositions.

popular science media, publicistic discourse, pseudoscience