In some cases, it may be difficult to say whether an explanation refers to a ‘conspiracy’ rather than to some other sort of confidential cooperation. However, secret cooperative activities whose aims and nature conflict with the so-called positive morality (that reflects our de facto moral commitments) or with specific prima facie duties are usually called ‘conspiracies’, especially if the members of the cooperation have a certain position, and if the goal of their activities differs from the goal they are authorised to pursue. Children may have morally questionable secret plans to influence events by secret means, but these incidents are seldom called conspiracies. Small children are not considered to be in a position to conspire. Secret military operations may be morally rotten, but as far as they have authorised goals, they are not usually called conspiracies. The members of an ‘official’ administrative meeting behind closed doors may secretly agree on issues they should not and start to pursue goals they should avoid. When this happens, the participants can rightfully be accused of conspiracy, as they have unauthorised goals now. Conspiracies involve secret cooperation, but that does not mean that the conspirators must meet secretly, so that outsiders do not know that they meet in the first place (see [Räikkä, J. (2018) ‘Conspiracies and conspiracy theories: an introduction’, Argumenta, 3(2): 213]).
– ‘Philosophy and conspiracy theories’, in Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (2020), p. 64