Fernando Broncano

What is the nature of knowledge? A popular answer to that long-standing question comes from robust virtue epistemology, whose key idea is that knowing is just a matter of succeeding cognitively—i.e., coming to believe a proposition truly—due to an exercise of cognitive ability. Versions of robust virtue epistemology further developing and systematizing this idea offer different accounts of the relation that must hold between an agent’s cognitive success and the exercise of her cognitive abilities as well as of the very nature of those abilities. This paper aims to give a new robust virtue epistemological account of knowledge based on a different understanding of the nature and structure of the kind of abilities that give rise to knowledge.

In this paper, I contrast Dennett’s materialism with post-cognitive enactivism. Although both are naturalist and eliminativist approaches concerning the Cartesian Theater, Dennett’s functionalism remains limited by its adherence to representationalism regarding the mind’s internal workings. The main difference observed between these two forms of materialism concerns the place of experience and phenomenology, a central position accepted by enactivism as a hallmark of life, at the cost of abandoning the idea of representation and content.

I propose to consider the interpersonal character of testimony as a kind of social bond created by the mutual intention of sharing knowledge. The paper explores the social mechanism that supports this mutual intention starting from an initial situation of modelling the other’s epistemic perspective. Accepting testimony as a joint action creates epistemic duties and responsibilities and the eventual success can be considered as a genuine achievement at the social level of epistemology. Trust is presented here as the symptom that both parties are involved in such a social bond.

Turning to the Book of Job and Sophocles’ Antigone, Fernando Broncano interrogates literary examples of early forms of political action. Both Job and Antigone show how resentment can play a role in awakening political consciousness. Broncano begins by considering the notion of a “state of affliction” and then interprets these works as accounts of subjects who recognize the wrongs committed against them and demand to have their own voice. He examines the political nature of certain speech acts that involve someone breaking into the sphere of language and therefore the sphere of politics. In these acts, the subjectivity of the agent forms on the very edges of politics when what is in question is how this subjectivity pertains to the word itself.

[EN]In recent decades, problems related to the accessibility and sustainability of science have increased, both in terms of the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge and its generation. Policymakers, academics, and, increasingly, citizens themselves have developed various approaches to this issue. Among them, citizen science is distinguished by making possible the generation of scientific knowledge by anyone with an interest in doing so. However, participation alone does not guarantee knowledge generation, which represents an epistemological challenge for citizen science. Simultaneously, economic and socio-institutional difficulties in science governance and maintenance have grown. To solve those problems, several market elements have been introduced, a solution rejected by those who consider science as a public good that states must guarantee. Alternatively, research and work on the commons are growing worldwide, the concept being extended from natural resources to knowledge resources. In this chapter, we propose science as a commons, underlining the essential role of citizen science. Difficulties also apply to citizen science itself, but the increasing development of a multitude of projects based on cooperation favours the conditions required for its sustainability and quality. Our philosophical proposal is based on empirical knowledge about citizen science coupled with socio-economic concepts, according to a sociopolitical epistemology.

Summary of Conocimiento expropiado Resumen: El libro Conocimiento expropiado trata varios de los temas nucleares de la epistemología política. Parte de la hipótesis de que en la interacción entre posiciones epistémicas y posiciones sociales se producen daños epistémicos que producen daños sociales. El marco teórico del libro es la epistemología de virtudes extendida a los aspectos sociales. Desde estos dos puntos de vista examino temas como la injusticia epistémica, las ignorancias estructurales, la opresión epistémica y las relaciones entre epistemología y orden social democrático. Abstract: The book Conocimiento expropiado deals with several of core issues of political epistemology. It starts from the hypothesis that in the interaction between epistemic positions and social positions epistemic certain harms are produced that amount to social harms. The theoretical framework of the book is virtue epistemology extended to social aspects. From these two points of view, I examine issues such as epistemic injustice, structural ignorances, epistemic oppression and, finally, the relations between epistemology and democratic social order. Palabras clave: Epistemología política, injusticia epistémica, epistemología y democracia. Keywords: Political epistemology, epistemic injustice, epistemology and democracy.

Replies to comments Resumen: Los temas principales discutidos son: en primer logar, las cuestiones sobre condiciones de posibilidad del testimonio y conocimiento común en situaciones de opresión, desigualdad o descuido institucional. En segundo lugar, las apreciaciones sobre el acceso a los recursos conceptuales necesarios para entender la situación social de víctima. En tercer lugar, la función positiva del activismo y otras formas de acción comunitaria. Por último, el problema del pluralismo de puntos de vista y la responsabilidad en el logro de la objetividad y la verdad. Abstract: The main topics discussed are: first, questions about the conditions of possibility of testimony and common knowledge in situations of oppression, inequality, or institutional neglect. Secondly, appreciations on the access to conceptual resources necessary to understand the social situation of victim. Third, the positive role of activism and other forms of community action. Finally, the problem of pluralism of viewpoints and responsibility in achieving objectivity and truth. Palabras clave: Epistemología política, injusticia epistémica, epistemología y democracia. Keywords: Political epistemology, epistemic injustice, epistemology and democracy.

«En estos tiempos en que todo lo que somos lo medimos y lo vemos como capital, disputar el concepto de conocimiento es disputar la vida misma.» Las formas más invisibles de injusticia tienen que ver con lo intangible, con el dominio sobre la información y el conocimiento. Modos de opresión y de exclusión que la política no suele considerar porque se ha construido sobre la mentira de que la verdad no cuenta, solo cuenta lo que se cree que es verdad: solo la manipulación de las opiniones. Se oculta cuidadosamente que tener el poder sobre aquello que se sabe, y sobre aquello que se ignora, es también una forma lacerante de desigualdad. El neoliberalismo es también una forma estratégica de ignorancia, de injusticia y de silenciamiento. Contra la ceguera, este libro afirma lo contrario: toda política es política epistemológica y toda epistemología es epistemología política. La democracia es, también, un proyecto de libertad, igualdad y fraternidad epistémicas.

Resumen: Este libro pretende convertir la tecnología en un objeto de reflexion seria y rigurosa que no se limite a pensar sobre las consecuencias de la tecnica, atienda el hecho de que los sistemas tecnológicos son objetos culturales, los mas importantes objetos culturales de nuestra civilizacion, y los ingenieros, por ello mismo, creadores de cultura con el mismo estatuto que cientificos o artistas. El volumen reune varios ensayos sobre cuestiones filosoficas, que plantea la teología actual : como determina nuestra cultura contemporanea, como se desarrolla y que relación existe entre desarrollo económico y social y el desarrollo tecnologico. La obra es parte de un programa de desarrollo de un análisis interno de los sistemas tecnológicos, de la lógica de las normas tecnologicas y de los nuevos metodos de conocer especificamente tecnológicos, como es el modelado de sistemas, a mitad de camino entre la lógica y la analogía. Se examinan, a modo de ejemplo, algunas tecnologias contemporaneas, en particular las ligadas a la reproducción funcional de seres vivos y del conocimiento, la inteligencia artificial y ciencias cognotivas. Jose Ortega y Gasset inauguro una tradición en filosofía de la tecnica a la que este volumen se honra en pertenecer.

Nuestro objetivo es examinar por qué la confianza puede ser considerada como una emoción secundaria y cómo ésta se aborda de diferente manera en un contexto estético u ordinario, lo cual proporciona otro modo de investigar las emociones secundarias_. _Nuestra tesis se desarrolla en tres secciones y una conclusión. En la primera sección, hemos desarrollado ejemplos y hecho observaciones a modo de análisis para probar por qué las narrativas son importantes para nuestras emociones secundarias. En la segunda sección, hemos examinado por qué la confianza puede ser considerara como una emoción secundaria así como establecer un criterio para identificarla como tal_. _En la tercera sección, presentamos una de las funciones de la confianza, el intercambio de conocimiento entre agentes, cuando se comparte conocimiento en un proceso epistémico con otros. Hemos comprobado que la construcción de la relación entre sujetos y objetos se produce mayoritariamente gracias a la confianza. Una emoción secundaria que representa lazos afectivos entre sujetos para acceder a una emoción primaria.

Our aim is to examine why trust can be considered a second-order emotion and how the way in which trust plays out differently in aesthetic and ordinary contexts can provide another mode of investigating second-order emotions. Our thesis is developed in three sections and a conclusion.In the first section, we perform an example analysis to show why narratives are important for our emotions. In the second section, we examine how trust can be considered a second-order emotion and establish criteria for identifying it as a second-order emotion. In the third section, we present one of the aims of trust, i.e. sharing knowledge between agents, when a testimony-giver shares knowledge in an epistemic trust process with others. We show how the relationship construction between persons thanks to trust, a second-order emotion that represents emotional ties between agents to achieve a first-order emotion.

En este artículo pretendemos arrojar luz sobre la normatividad propia del conocimiento humano. Describimos el dominio normativo epistémico como un campo de agencia humana que está definido por el conocimiento entendido como logro. La normatividad del conocimiento se apoya en la contribución del agente epistémico a la consecución de ciertas tareas. Tal contribución es epistémicamente significativa cuando el agente llega a participar en la consecución del éxito. Por último identificamos algunos rasgos asociados con la agencia epistémica completa (condiciones de integración cognitiva y autonomía epistémica), y aclaramos lo que queremos decir con implicación apelando a la idea de adoptar una perspectiva epistémica.

I propose to consider the interpersonal character of testimony as a kind of social bond created by the mutual intention of sharing knowledge. The paper explores the social mechanism that supports this mutual intention starting from an initial situation of modelling the other’s epistemic perspective. Accepting testimony as a joint action creates epistemic duties and responsibilities and the eventual success can be considered as a genuine achievement at the social level of epistemology. Trust is presented here as the symptom that both parties are involved in such a social bond.

Truth is an epistemological concept that sometimes is claimed to have explanatory strength. It is argued, within a realistic view about causality and explanation, that concepts must represent naturalistic properties in order to have explanatory power. The eliminativistic theories about truth fail to account the use of predicate “truth” in explanatory contexts. Many antirealistic explanations of truth are reconstructed in order to sustain that thesis. Specially, we focus on the minimalist theory of truth. As we argue, we cannot eliminate the predicate “truth” in some of the most relevant contexts of science and daily life.

Se revisan varios libros publicados recientemente que corresponderían al campo de la epistemología politica. Sus autores pertenecen a tradiciones tan distintas como los Estudios sobre la Cieneia, Sociologia del Conocimiento, Epistemología, Filosafia de la Cieneia o Economía. La convergencia en este tema es el dato más significativo, habida cuenta de las bien conocidas controversias contemporaneas sabre Ia ciencia. EI nucleo central de los trabajos es la relación entre ciencia y democracia.We review a few volumes appeared in the last years about the topic of Political Epistemology. The authors came from different traditions such as Science Studies, Sociology of Science, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science or Economics. This convergence is the most meaningful fact, given the well-known controversies in the general field of science. the hard core of the reviewed volumes is the relationship between science and democtratic studies.