Course Description

In this class, we will explore issues raised by the fact that our epistemic agency is deeply socially and politically embedded: Who should we trust? Do social factors inevitably affect what we know? How can we be epistemically good when the world is epistemically bad? How does social identity affect what we know? Can we have a true democracy in the face of our ignorance and reasoning difficulties? How do technology and propaganda affect our ability to know? The overarching goal is to collectively come to a clearer understanding of (a) how our social and political environment can exploit our cognitive vulnerabilities in ways that lead us astray, and (b) how we can design better epistemically social structures and political institutions.

The class will be discussion-based, and with a focus on topics of direct real-world relevance.

Course Goals

In this course, you will:

• Acquire knowledge of central debates about the scope of the social in epistemology in recent decades, as well as specific debates about central topics in social and political epistemology.

• Develop a clear grasp of the concepts and theories social and political epistemologists have developed to help us understand and respond to social and political epistemic pathologies;

• Develop the ability to apply concepts and theories social and political epistemologists have developed to critically assess the broad socio-political context and your conduct and interactions.

In pursuing these course-specific goals, you will also acquire the following general skills:

• To engage in close and charitable readings of sophisticated arguments.

• To criticize views by giving focused objections to them and anticipating replies. 

• To communicate complex ideas effectively and concisely in your writing. 

• To engage in respectful, reasoned, and passionate debate with peers about complex topics that lack clear answers, and to use such debate as a tool for understanding the social world.