Dear all,
the Vienna Forum for Analytic Philosophy warmly invites you to join a
talk to be held by Quassim Cassam from the University of Warwick in two
weeks. The title of the talk is "How To Be A Political Epistemologist".
When? Wednesday, 21.05.2025, 01:00 - 2:30 pm
Where? Lecture room 3A, NIG Universitätsstaße 7, 1010 Wien
Abstract
One of the fastest growing areas of philosophy today is political
epistemology. In my lecture, I will discuss the extent to which its
leading figures operate in an epistemic bubble or echo chamber. I will
draw on Kusch's conception of a sociology of philosophical knowledge to
investigate the background assumptions, concerns, ideologies, and master
narratives of mainstream political epistemologists. I will propose a
class-based analysis of political epistemology and explore the
suggestion that this field's major preoccupations are essentially the
preoccupations of what Musa Al-Gharbi calls 'symbolic capitalists'. I
will conclude with a plea for a more diverse and self-critical approach
to political epistemology.
Quassim Cassam has kindly recommended the following texts as preparatory
reading:
* Kusch, M. (1995). Psychologism: The Sociology of Philosophical
Knowledge. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203983898 [1] [read
chapter 2]
* al-Gharbi, M. (2024). We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural
Contradictions of a New Elite. Princeton University Press. [read
introduction and chapter 1]
The WFAP will discuss them as part of its discussion session at 06:30 pm
on Friday, May 16th in lecture hall 2i, NIG. You can find the
recommended reading attached to this e-mail. Anyone is welcome to join!
Kind regards,
Veronika Lassl
Acting-Chair - Vienna Forum for Analytic Philosophy
wfap.philo.at
Links:
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[1]
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203983898