The scientific community as a collective epistemic subject
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2019.3.32106Keywords:
Collective epistemology. Collective epistemic subject. Collective knowledge. Joint commitment.Abstract
In collective epistemology it is argued that groups can be epistemic
subjects. That is, groups can instance doxastic attitudes (such as beliefs)
that can be evaluated as rational, justified or even cases of knowledge.
Collective epistemologists have held that broad groups such as the scientific community as can also be epistemic subjects. But it is not obvious that the scientific community is capable of doxastic attitudes even if the argument supporting the thesis that groups have such attitudes is sound. This, because the thesis that groups can be epistemic subjects depends on a notion of joint commitment that the scientific community seems to be unable to perform. Following this line of reasoning it is objected that the scientific community is not capable of doxastic attitudes. Given these objections the scientific community could not be treated as an epistemic subject. My purpose in this paper is to respond to these objections and to argue that the scientific community can be an epistemic subject.
Downloads
References
BIRD, Alexander. When Is There a Group that Knows? LACKEY, J. (Org.). . Essays in Collective Epistemology. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 2014. p. 42–63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199665792.003.0003
COLE, Stephen. Making Science: Between Nature and Society. [S.l.]: Harvard University Press, 1992.
DURKHEIM, Emile e COSER, Lewis A. The Division of Labor in Society. Reprint edition ed. New York: Free Press, 1997.
ELVEE, Richard Q. The End of Science?: Attack and Defense. [S.l.]: Upa, 1991.
GILBERT, Margaret. Modelling Collective Belief. Synthese, v. 73, n. 1, p. 185–204, 1987. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00485446
GILBERT, Margaret. On Social Facts. [S.l.]: Routledge, 1989. (, 3).
GILBERT, Margaret. Sociality and Responsibility: New Essays in Plural Subject Theory. [S.l.]: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000.
GILBERT, Margaret P. Collective Epistemology. Episteme, v. 1, n. 2, p. 95–107, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/epi.2004.1.2.95
KNORR-CETINA, K. Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge. [S.l.]: Harvard University Press, 1999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674039681
MATHIESEN, Kay. Can Groups Be Epistemic Agents? SCHMID, H. B.; SIRTES, D.; WEBER, M. (Org.). . Collective Epistemology. [S.l.]: Ontos, 2011. p. 20–23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110322583.23
NIINILUOTO, Ilkka. Science as Collective Knowledge. SINTONEN, M.; YLIKOSKI, P.; MILLER, K. (Org.). . Realism in Action. Synthese Library. [S.l.]: Springer Netherlands, 2003. p. 269–278. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1046-7_18
ROLIN, Kristina. Science as collective knowledge. Cognitive Systems Research, Perspectives on Social Cognition. v. 9, n. 1–2, p. 115–124, Mar 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2007.07.007
SOLOMON, Miriam. Social Empiricism. Cambridge, Mass: A Bradford Book, 2001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6296.001.0001
THAGARD, Paul. How Scientists Explain Disease. [S.l.]: Princeton University Press, 1999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691187303
TUOMELA, Raimo. Group Beliefs. Synthese, v. 91, n. 3, p. 285–318, 1992. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413570
TUOMELA, Raimo. The Importance of Us: A Philosophical Study of Basic Social Notions. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Univ Pr, 1995.
WRAY, K. Brad. Who has Scientific Knowledge? Social Epistemology, v. 21, n. 3, p. 337–347, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02691720701674288
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright
The submission of originals to Revista Veritas implies the transfer by the authors of the right for publication. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. If the authors wish to include the same data into another publication, they must cite Revista Veritas as the site of original publication.
Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise specified, material published in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is correctly cited. Copyright: © 2006-2020 EDIPUCRS</p