Undergraduate Course: Knowledge, Ignorance and Power (PHIL10160)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will introduce and examine a range of topics at the intersection of epistemology and political/social/feminist philosophy, examining our actual epistemic practices in light of the relations of power and subordination that exist between differently placed groups in society, and looking at different proposals for how this should shape our theorizing about knowledge and ignorance. |
| Course description |
This course will introduce and examine a range of topics at the intersection of epistemology and political/social/feminist philosophy, examining our actual epistemic practices in light of the relations of power and subordination that exist between differently placed groups in society, and looking at different proposals for how this should shape our theorizing about knowledge and ignorance. Topics covered will include standpoint epistemology, alternative standards for assessing claims to knowledge (such as those offered by Collins¿s black feminist epistemology), epistemic violence and oppression, different varieties of epistemic injustice (including but not limited to the two varieties discussed in influential work by Miranda Fricker, testimonial injustice and hermeneutical injustice), the epistemology of active ignorance, epistemic exploitation, the epistemic potential of the disability pride movement, and the #metoo movement.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08017) AND
Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students studying on MA Cognitive Science (Humanities) are permitted to take this course without having met the pre-requisites of Mind, Matter and Language and Knowledge and Reality. However, it is advisable that students discuss the suitability of the course with their PT and the course organiser before enrolling. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm assessment 40% 1500 words
Final assessment 60% 2500 words
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Development of core skills in philosophy, including interpreting and critically engaging with philosophical texts, evaluating arguments and theories, and developing one's own ideas in response to the issues discussed.
- Knowledge of the principal theories within analytic feminist epistemology, and accounts of phenomena such as epistemic injustice and systematic ignorance
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Reading List
Representative Readings
Barnes, Elizabeth. 2016. The Minority Body. Oxford.
Berenstain, Nora. 2016. 'Epistemic Exploitation.' Ergo 3: 569-90.
Collins, Patricia Hill. 1991. ¿Learning From the Outsider Within¿, in Mary Margaret Fonow and Judith A. Cook (eds), Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship As Lived Experience. Indiana.
Collins, Patricia Hill. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Routledge.
Dotson, Kristie. 2011. ¿Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing¿, Hypatia 26: 236-57.
Dotson, Kristie. 2012. ¿A Cautionary Tale: On Limiting Epistemic Oppression¿, Frontiers 33: 24-47.
Fricker, Miranda. 2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford.
Harding, Sandra. 1986. The Science Question in Feminism. Open University.
Intemann, Kristen. 2010. ¿25 Years of Feminist Empiricism and Standpoint Theory: Where Are We Now?¿, Hypatia 25: 778-96.
Langton, Rae. 2005. ¿Feminism in Epistemology: Exclusion and Objectification¿, reprinted in Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification. Oxford.
Manne, Kate. 2017. Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. Oxford.
McKinnon, Rachel. 2016. ¿Epistemic Injustice¿. Philosophy Compass 11: 437-46.
Medina, Jose. 2013. The Epistemology of Resistance: Gender and Racial Oppression, Epistemic Injustice, and Resistant Imaginations. Oxford.
Mills, Charles. 1997. The Racial Contract. Cornell.
Mills, Charles. 2007. ¿White Ignorance¿, in Shannon Sullivan and Nancy Tuana (eds), Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance. SUNY.
Potter, Elizabeth. 2006. Feminism and Philosophy of Science: An Introduction. Routledge.
Stanley, Jason. 2015. How Propaganda Works. Princeton.
Tanesini, Alessandra. 1999. An Introduction to Feminist Epistemologies. Blackwell.
Wylie, Alison. 2003. ¿Why Standpoint Matters¿, in Robert Figueroa and Sandra Harding (eds), Science and Other Cultures: Issues in Philosophies of Science and Technology. Routledge.
Yap, Audrey. 2017. ¿Credibility Excess in the Social Imaginary in Cases of Sexual Assault¿. Feminist Philosophy Quarterly 3: 1-24.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course examines ways that power inequalities, such as those involved in oppression on the basis of gender and race, shape and distort what people can know. It focuses on class discussions based on careful readings of the set texts. This requires students to develop their skills in understanding complex readings, and to be able to engage with others on sensitive and controversial issues in ways that are both productive and respectful of others with alternative experiences and perspectives.
Core skills gained or developed on this course:
Adapting presentation or writing tone/style to audience; Being open to different perspectives; Challenging own perspectives and assumptions; Oral communication (discussion, debating respectfully, influencing); Academic reading skills; Self-reflection; Understanding broader perspectives; Written communication; Talking about sensitive and sometimes heated topics in a respectful but critical manner. |
| Keywords | Epistemology,Knowledge,Ignorance,Feminism |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Aidan McGlynn
Tel: (0131 6)51 6333
Email: amcglynn@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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