Normativity and Epistemic Perspectives

2022

Chloé de Canson

University of Groningen

Should and must we inquire from a social, political, or epistemic standpoint? Does reason necessarily have a specific orientation, or can we reorient it toward other, better ends? Can the claim to an objective point of view be dangerous insofar as it poses the risk of false universalization, and thereby become ideology? Does people’s social standpoint undermine or enhance their epistemic perspective? In this course, we propose to investigate these and related questions by unifying expertise in history of philosophy, political philosophy, and theoretical philosophy. Some of the authors that may be addressed include Kant, Marx, Lukács, Kuhn, Horkheimer, Habermas, Hartsock, Haraway, and Friedman.