Social Epistemology and Epistemic Agency

The field of epistemology is undergoing significant changes. Primary among these changes is an ever growing appreciation for the role social influences play on one’s ability to acquire and assess knowledge claims. Arguably, social epistemology’s greatest influence on traditional epistemology is its stance on de-centralizing the epistemic agent. In other words, its practitioners have actively sought to dispel the claim that individuals can be solely responsible for the assessment, acquisition, dissemination, and retention of knowledge. This view opposes traditional epistemology, which tends to focus on the individual’s capacity to form and access knowledge claims independent of his or her relationship to society.

Social Epistemology and Epistemic Agency is an essential resource for academics and students who ask, “in what manner does society engender its members with the ability to act as epistemic agents, what actions constitute epistemic agency, and what type of beings can be epistemic agents?”

Patrick J. Reider teaches philosophy at Misericordia University. He is the editor and a contributing author to Wilfrid Sellars, Idealism and Realism: Understanding Psychological Nominalism (2016). He recently contributed to Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective as their Special Issue Editor. SERRC is the online platform for the journal Social Epistemology: A Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Policy.

Contributors:
Finn Collin, Professor of Media, Cognition and Communication, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Fred D’Agostino, Professor of Philosophy, University of Queensland, Australia; Paul Faulkner, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Sheffield, UK; Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, UK; Sanford C. Goldberg, Professor of Philosophy, Northwestern University, USA; ; Angelica Nuzzo, Professor of Philosophy, Brooklyn College, USA; Orestis Palermos, Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, UK; Duncan Pritchard, Professor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, UK; Frank Scalambrino, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Dallas, USA; R. Valentine Dusek, Professor of Philosophy, University of New Hampshire, USA; Francis Remedios, independent scholar, Canada