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Social epistemology

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Full-Text Articles in Epistemology

Believe It Or Not: An Examination Of The Nature And Implications Of Evidence-Resistant Beliefs, Jack Geruc May 2026

Believe It Or Not: An Examination Of The Nature And Implications Of Evidence-Resistant Beliefs, Jack Geruc

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to a growing body of academic research regarding the nature and origin of evidence-resistant belief systems and examine the influence that they have upon our lives. This examination of the origin of these beliefs draws on two intellectual disciplines: psychology and epistemology. A psychological approach examines the cognitive mechanisms that allow for the formation and persistence of these beliefs. The psychological approach focuses on the biological drives of belief formation and resilience. Furthermore, an examination of the psychology of identity shows an entanglement of one’s identity with belief systems that allows for …


Safe-Haven Ignorance: The Epistemic Refugee, Purya Rabet Jun 2025

Safe-Haven Ignorance: The Epistemic Refugee, Purya Rabet

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This paper engages with the emerging field of ignorance studies. Per feminist critique, the classic “X knows that p” formulation in epistemology fails to account for the subjectivity and situatedness of X. Building on feminist and critical race theory contributions, this paper puts forward a positive theory regarding resistance to belief-revision. The inquiry concerns the relationship between X’s ignorance and X’s self. This paper interrogates defensive reactions to knowledge and their connection to the narrative sense of self. It introduces “safe-haven ignorance”—a psycho-sociopolitical defense mechanism—which occurs when an individual becomes hostile toward knowledge that contradicts their established self-narrative. This contradiction …


Perspectivism And Wicked Problems: Patterns In The Discovery Process Of Leibniz, Bohr, And Turing, Ernesto Diaz Jan 2025

Perspectivism And Wicked Problems: Patterns In The Discovery Process Of Leibniz, Bohr, And Turing, Ernesto Diaz

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Authored Dissertations and Theses

This research investigates fundamental patterns in how transformative scientific knowledge emerges and becomes established, examining three pivotal cases: Leibniz's development of calculus, Bohr's formulation of complementarity, and Turing's conceptualisation of computation and artificial intelligence. The study introduces the o-é-c model (Ouverture Ontologique - Épistémè Socialisante - Connaissance Éclairante) to explain how individual insights become integrated into collective knowledge through structured phases of development. Drawing on Minsky's conception of knowledge as mental models for problem-solving and Longino's social epistemology, the research demonstrates how wicked problems—those that resist formulation within existing frameworks—catalyse the creation of new knowledge domains. The model reveals how …


Early Response To False Claims In Wikipedia, 15 Years Later, P.D. Magnus Sep 2023

Early Response To False Claims In Wikipedia, 15 Years Later, P.D. Magnus

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

Fifteen years ago, I conducted a small study testing the error-correction tendency of Wikipedia. Not only is Wikipedia different now than it was then, the community that maintains it is different. Despite the crudity of that study’s methods, it is natural to wonder what the result would be now. So I repeated the earlier study and found surprisingly similar results.


Walking As A Way Of Knowing: An Autoethnography Of Embodied Inquiry, Lauriel-Arwen Amoroso Mar 2021

Walking As A Way Of Knowing: An Autoethnography Of Embodied Inquiry, Lauriel-Arwen Amoroso

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the role of walking in my own ways of knowing and to explore how walking itself is an epistemological process by using personal narrative to examine and story my experience. I used an embodied narrative research method, known as evocative autoethnography, in which I explored my own innate ways of knowing, including intellectual, embodied, emotional, and spiritual knowledge. I collected data using field notes, reflective journaling, reviewing past writing, and artistic interpretations of experiences such as photography and poetry. I compiled my data into a series of short essays, stories, …


Plurality Of Traditions And Metatheories In Information Science, Taufik Asmiyanto, Muhamad Prabu Wibowo May 2020

Plurality Of Traditions And Metatheories In Information Science, Taufik Asmiyanto, Muhamad Prabu Wibowo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Information science presupposes multi traditions because of its close relationship to the convergence of several fields of science that saw epistemic and practical needs and demands due to the phenomenon of the information revolution and information and communication technology (ICT). The multi traditions in information science are relevant to explain limitless study objects in information science in understanding reality and ways of gaining knowledge throughout the development of science. A previous study on ontology and epistemology shows that there is a limitation on human reasoning on the understanding reality that affects further development of science. The plurality of traditions enables …


Expert Opinion And Second-Hand Knowledge, Matthew A. Benton Jan 2016

Expert Opinion And Second-Hand Knowledge, Matthew A. Benton

SPU Works

Expert testimony figures in recent debates over how best to understand the norm of assertion and the domain-specific epistemic expectations placed on testifiers. Cases of experts asserting with only isolated second-hand knowledge Jennifer (Lackey 2011, 2013) have been used to shed light on whether knowledge is sufficient for epistemically permissible assertion. I argue that relying on such cases of expert testimony introduces several problems concerning how we understand expert knowledge, and the sharing of such knowledge through testimony. Refinements are needed to clarify exactly what principles are being tested by such cases; but once refined, such cases raise more questions …


Believing On Authority, Matthew A. Benton Jan 2014

Believing On Authority, Matthew A. Benton

SPU Works

Linda T. Zagzebski's "Epistemic Authority" (Oxford University Press, 2012) brings together issues in social epistemology with topics in moral and political philosophy as well as philosophy of religion. In this paper I criticize her discussion of self-trust and rationality, which sets up the main argument of the book; I consider how her view of authority relates to some issues of epistemic authority in testimony; and I raise some concerns about her treatment of religious epistemology and religious authority in particular.


Disciplinarity And Trandisciplinarity In The Study Of Knowledge, Jay H. Bernstein Jan 2014

Disciplinarity And Trandisciplinarity In The Study Of Knowledge, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

Scholarly inquiry about the nature and significance of knowledge has been shaped by disciplinary traditions and priorities that define “knowledge” differently and result in disconnected literatures. In the mid to late twentieth century, library science educator Jesse Shera sought to bridge the conceptual gap between epistemological and sociological approaches to knowledge in proposing a new discipline he called social epistemology. Around the same time, long-term projects by the economist Fritz Machlup and the physical chemist turned philosopher of science Michael Polanyi did not merely combine existing disciplinary approaches but transcended conventional frameworks for conceptualizing knowledge. These scholars can be viewed …


Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram Jan 2014

Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In today’s America the persistence of crushing poverty in the midst of staggering affluence no longer incites the righteous jeremiads it once did. Resigned acceptance of this paradox is fueled by a sense that poverty lies beyond the moral and technical scope of government remediation. The failure of experts to reach agreement on the causes of poverty merely exacerbates our despair. Are the causes internal to the poor – reflecting their more or less voluntary choices? Or do they emanate from structures beyond their control (but perhaps amenable to government remediation)? If both of these explanations are true (as I …


The Intellectual And Curricular Spaces Of Knowledge Studies, Jay H. Bernstein Jun 2013

The Intellectual And Curricular Spaces Of Knowledge Studies, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

The words “knowledge” and “information” are sometimes used interchangeably, but the connection between them is complex and problematic. Knowledge is a mental product gained from engaging with information. All educational subjects, scholarly disciplines, occupations, and activities produce knowledge as well as information. Because libraries encompass potentially all subjects, professional vision in librarianship would benefit from an examination of knowledge that transcends the methods and topical concerns of individual disciplines. An interdisciplinary (or transdisciplinary) framework in which to view knowledge was pioneered in the post-Sputnik age by Fritz Machlup and Michael Polanyi. Their insights have stimulated scholars to develop research, publications, …


Finding Godot: Postmodernism And Truth, Robert T. Gregory Jr. Apr 1996

Finding Godot: Postmodernism And Truth, Robert T. Gregory Jr.

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Postmodernism has enjoyed a wide range of influence as a critical enterprise, often being accused as nothing more than a method of critique. In addition, it is often objected that postmodernism advocates a radical relativism which is ultimately self-contradictory and lacks an overall sense of agency that can apply to concrete action. These issues are particularly significant when considering theories of truth. Given postmodernism criticizes traditional notions of truth and objectivity, it is appropriate to ask if postmodernism possesses a positive position on truth as an alternative. I argue in this work that while postmodernism has a significant critical enterprise, …