Recognizing knowledge: intuitive and reflective epistemology
The Faculty is most delighted to welcome Jennifer Nagel as a John Locke lecturer of 2023. Jennifer is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, and will give a series of lectures in Trinity Term 2023.
The lectures will take place at 5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays in weeks 6 to 8 of Trinity Term 2023 (29, 31 May and 5, 7, 12, 14 June), at The HB Allen Centre, 25 Banbury Road, Oxford.
Abstract
Humans have a remarkable capacity to track what others do and do not know. This capacity guides us in everyday social navigation, for example as we switch between the roles of telling and asking in conversation. It also provides raw data to epistemology, in the form of intuitive judgments about possible cases of knowledge. Over the years, philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists have discovered a variety of cross-culturally robust patterns of epistemic intuition, patterns that are attractively systematic, but often disturbingly paradoxical. This series of talks examines the natural origins and functions of our capacity to detect knowledge, in search of a better analysis of the data guiding epistemology, and ultimately a clearer view of knowledge itself.
Lectures
Lecture 1: The strange divergence between intuitive and reflective knowledge attribution
Lecture 2: Knowledge and surprise
Lecture 3: Mental state recognition among animals
Lecture 4: Distinctively human mindreading
Lecture 5: Knowledge possession and knowledge transmission
Lecture 6: Knowledge detection and the nature of knowledge
Please note that seats will be offered on a first come first served basis. Once maximum capacity is reached and/or the lecture has begun admission will not be possible. We therefore recommend arriving in plenty of time to increase your chances of getting a seat.
