This article is about the discipline. For the journal, see Social Epistemology (journal).
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Epistemology
Outline
Category
Index
Schools
Coherentism
Contextualism
Dogmatism
Empiricism
Fallibilism
Foundationalism
Infallibilism
Infinitism
Naturalism
Perspectivism
Pragmatism
Rationalism
Relativism
Skepticism
Solipsism
Structuralism
Concepts
Action
Analytic–synthetic distinction
A priori and a posteriori
Belief
Credence
Certainty
Data
Experience
Information
Justification
Induction
Knowledge
Meaning
Rationality
Reason
Truth
Wisdom
Domains
Applied epistemology
Evolutionary epistemology
Formal epistemology
Historical epistemology
Metaepistemology
Social epistemology
Virtue epistemology
Epistemologists
Aristotle
Sextus Empiricus
Edmund Gettier
Wang Yangming
René Descartes
David Hume
Immanuel Kant
W. V. O. Quine
more...
Related fields
Epistemic cognition
Epistemic logic
Philosophy of perception
Philosophy of science
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Social epistemology refers to a broad set of approaches that can be taken in epistemology (the study of knowledge) that construes human knowledge as a collective achievement. Another way of characterizing social epistemology is as the evaluation of the social dimensions of knowledge or information.[1]
As a field of inquiry in analytic philosophy, social epistemology deals with questions about knowledge in social contexts, meaning those in which knowledge attributions cannot be explained by examining individuals in isolation from one another. The most common topics discussed in contemporary social epistemology are testimony (e.g. "When does a belief that x is true which resulted from being told 'x is true' constitute knowledge?"), peer disagreement (e.g. "When and how should I revise my beliefs in light of other people holding beliefs that contradict mine?"), and group epistemology (e.g. "What does it mean to attribute knowledge to groups rather than individuals, and when are such knowledge attributions appropriate?").[1] Social epistemology also examines the social justification of belief.[1]
One of the enduring difficulties with defining "social epistemology" that arises is the attempt to determine what the word "knowledge" means in this context. There is also a challenge in arriving at a definition of "social" which satisfies academics from different disciplines.[1] Social epistemologists may exist working in many of the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, most commonly in philosophy and sociology. In addition to marking a distinct movement in traditional and analytic epistemology, social epistemology is associated with the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS).
^ abcdGoldman, Alvin; Blanchard, Thomas (2015). "Social Epistemology". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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