Testimony and Autonomy in Social Epistemology

A special issue of Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2020) | Viewed by 15922

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Faculty of Philosophy, Pontifical Lateran University, Vatican City, Italy
Interests: social ontology; social epistemology; philosophy of language; theories of autonomy; epistemology; philosophy of artificial intelligence
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Guest Editor
Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: philosophy of the social sciences; political philosophy; history of political doctrines

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The International Research Area on Foundations of the Sciences (IRAFS), Pontifical Lateran University, 00184 Roma, Italy
Interests: political philosophy; analytic philosophy; logic; philosophy of artificial intelligence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Social Epistemology is the study of the social dimension of knowledge, the source of the objectivity of shared beliefs and information. We can find investigations on social knowledge in our philosophical tradition (Plato, Hume, Reid, Locke). In the contemporary debate, there are different and contrasting perspectives about the nature of social knowledge, depending on the role they assign to classical epistemology. We invite submissions for this Special Issue on the “indirect” source of information; namely, testimony, new conceptions of autonomy related to social epistemology, and possible connections between testimony and autonomy. Knowledge by testimony is one of the most discussed topics in social epistemology and we welcome papers that focus on the relationship between testimony and different epistemological perspectives. We also welcome contributions on new conceptions of autonomy in social epistemology and social sciences.

Prof. Dr. Raffaela Giovagnoli
Dr. Jacopo Marchetti
Dr. Alfonso D’Amodio
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Information
  • Testimony
  • Autonomy
  • Rationality
  • Community

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 353 KiB  
Article
The Concept of “Tradition” in Edmund Husserl
by Rossi Claudio
Philosophies 2021, 6(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies6010001 - 23 Dec 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4051
Abstract
That of tradition is a so-called limit problem of Husserlian phenomenology. The text is based on an investigation of the existential and historical character of the formal ego, which implies its temporal and historical stratification and personal constitution. The ego is essentially situated [...] Read more.
That of tradition is a so-called limit problem of Husserlian phenomenology. The text is based on an investigation of the existential and historical character of the formal ego, which implies its temporal and historical stratification and personal constitution. The ego is essentially situated in a spiritual context historically determined by a transmission of ideas and values that have a communitarian character. The fundamental point of this study is to affirm that, in Husserlian thought, tradition, being a transcendental prerequisite of the existential dimension of the formal ego, is consequently a constitutive moment of the human being. The study also brings to light the important concept of “Vergemeinschaftung” and provides an interpretation of the theme of the crisis of European mankind, which seems to correspond to an oblivion of its tradition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Testimony and Autonomy in Social Epistemology)
22 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
Toward a Human-Centered Economy and Politics: The Theory of Justice as Fairness from Rawls to Sen
by Alfonso D’Amodio
Philosophies 2020, 5(4), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies5040044 - 8 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3996
Abstract
In this paper, I present the suggestion that a suitable theory of “justice as fairness” could offer a consistent path for solving many issues related to the actual crisis of the classical liberal model of economy and democracy, by substituting the abstract “equality” [...] Read more.
In this paper, I present the suggestion that a suitable theory of “justice as fairness” could offer a consistent path for solving many issues related to the actual crisis of the classical liberal model of economy and democracy, by substituting the abstract “equality” principle, with the concrete “equity” one in the notion of justice. After a short discussion of some main characters of the present worldwide crisis of the classical liberal model, I present two main theories of justice as fairness. John Rawls’ theory in political philosophy that emphasizes how really equitable judgements must overcome the equalitarianism of the Classical Liberalism, by considering the real possibilities of individuals and groups of accessing and enjoying commodities and utilities, as well as, the “basic liberties” defining the citizen equal dignity in the Modern State. Rawls propose, therefore, a notion of fairness compliant with the Kantian normativism, and a notion of fair distributive justice based on the ethical principle of the maximin, as a criterion for judging the righteousness of the State Institutions. The other theory of justice as fairness I discuss in this paper is an evolution of Rawls’ in the direction of the development of a “comparative distributive justice”, without any normativism. This theory is developed in the context of the newborn discipline of the “social choice theory”, formalizing social decision processes, with applications in economic, social, and political sciences. What characterizes Sen’s theory is its original synthesis between the Aristotelian notion of fairness, based on the “personal flourishing”, and Adam Smith’s ethical principle of the “extended sympathy”, by which making comparable different approaches to pursue the personal flourishing, i.e., for achieving “valued and valuable ways of being and of doing”, compliant with, and respectful of, different value systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Testimony and Autonomy in Social Epistemology)
10 pages, 202 KiB  
Article
Personal Autonomy in a Post-Secular Society
by Raffaela Giovagnoli
Philosophies 2020, 5(4), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies5040042 - 3 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2492
Abstract
The contemporary philosophical debate on autonomy shows several interesting perspectives that emphasize the role of social contexts for developing this human capacity. There is a shift from the classical notion of “moral” autonomy to the wider notion of “personal autonomy”, and we underscore [...] Read more.
The contemporary philosophical debate on autonomy shows several interesting perspectives that emphasize the role of social contexts for developing this human capacity. There is a shift from the classical notion of “moral” autonomy to the wider notion of “personal autonomy”, and we underscore the “substantive view” that helps to provide arguments that support a plausible notion strictly connected with socialization and language use. In this article, we consider the source of autonomy that is represented by a communicative life-world in its ordinary and extra-ordinary dimensions to discuss the role of personal autonomy in a post-secular society. Moreover, we propose to adopt a pragmatic account to describe the social role of the autonomous agent in discursive contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Testimony and Autonomy in Social Epistemology)
12 pages, 242 KiB  
Article
Autonomy and the Ownership of Our Own Destiny: Tracking the External World and Human Behavior, and the Paradox of Autonomy
by Lorenzo Magnani
Philosophies 2020, 5(3), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies5030012 - 20 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4506
Abstract
Research on autonomy exhibits a constellation of variegated perspectives, from the problem of the crude deprivation of it to the study of the distinction between personal and moral autonomy, and from the problem of the role of a “self as narrator”, who classifies [...] Read more.
Research on autonomy exhibits a constellation of variegated perspectives, from the problem of the crude deprivation of it to the study of the distinction between personal and moral autonomy, and from the problem of the role of a “self as narrator”, who classifies its own actions as autonomous or not, to the importance of the political side and, finally, to the need of defending and enhancing human autonomy. My precise concern in this article will be the examination of the role of the human cognitive processes that give rise to the most important ways of tracking the external world and human behavior in their relationship to some central aspects of human autonomy, also to the aim of clarifying the link between autonomy and the ownership of our own destinies. I will also focus on the preservation of human autonomy as an important component of human dignity, seeing it as strictly associated with knowledge and, even more significantly, with the constant production of new and pertinent knowledge of various kinds. I will also describe the important paradox of autonomy, which resorts to the fact that, on one side, cognitions (from science to morality, from common knowledge to philosophy, etc.) are necessary to be able to perform autonomous actions and decisions because we need believe in rules that justify and identify our choices, but, on the other side, these same rules can become (for example, as a result of contrasting with other internalized and approved moral rules or knowledge contents) oppressive norms that diminish autonomy and can thus, paradoxically, defeat agents’ autonomous capacity “to take ownership”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Testimony and Autonomy in Social Epistemology)
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