Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification
In this paper, I consider the problem of peer disagreement: What should one do in a case in which one who is an epistemic peer disagrees with one? One of the flaws with what has come to be known as the “equal weight view” is that it misconceives the asymmetry between the peer’s opinion and one’s own...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Athens Institute for Education and Research
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts |
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| Online Access: | http://www.athensjournals.gr/humanities/2015-2-3-1-Smith.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818790307646406656 |
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| author | Nicholas D. Smith |
| author_facet | Nicholas D. Smith |
| author_sort | Nicholas D. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, I consider the problem of peer disagreement: What should one do in a case in which one who is an epistemic peer disagrees with one? One of the flaws with what has come to be known as the “equal weight view” is that it misconceives the asymmetry between the peer’s opinion and one’s own: the peer’s opinion just by itself carries evidential value, whereas one’s own just by itself carries none. This shows, I claim, that the evidential weight relevant to a peer’s disagreement is that conveyed ordinarily by testimony. I argue against the so-called “total evidence view” that the strategy it mandates cannot be put into practice, because of the objective way in which it conceives of evidence. I conclude by providing my own view, which treats the testimony of peers as testimonial evidence, to be weighed in accordance with one’s personal justification system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T14:53:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b7b901f23434a869c347fe2a411afab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2241-7702 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T14:53:23Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Athens Institute for Education and Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b7b901f23434a869c347fe2a411afab2022-12-21T21:04:06ZengAthens Institute for Education and ResearchAthens Journal of Humanities & Arts2241-77022015-07-012314115010.30958/ajha.2-3-1Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal JustificationNicholas D. Smith0James F. Miller Professor of Humanities, Department of Philosophy, Lewis & Clark College, USAIn this paper, I consider the problem of peer disagreement: What should one do in a case in which one who is an epistemic peer disagrees with one? One of the flaws with what has come to be known as the “equal weight view” is that it misconceives the asymmetry between the peer’s opinion and one’s own: the peer’s opinion just by itself carries evidential value, whereas one’s own just by itself carries none. This shows, I claim, that the evidential weight relevant to a peer’s disagreement is that conveyed ordinarily by testimony. I argue against the so-called “total evidence view” that the strategy it mandates cannot be put into practice, because of the objective way in which it conceives of evidence. I conclude by providing my own view, which treats the testimony of peers as testimonial evidence, to be weighed in accordance with one’s personal justification system.http://www.athensjournals.gr/humanities/2015-2-3-1-Smith.pdfpeer disagreementtestimonyjustificationsocial epistemologyevidential weight |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas D. Smith Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts peer disagreement testimony justification social epistemology evidential weight |
| title | Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification |
| title_full | Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification |
| title_fullStr | Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification |
| title_short | Peer Disagreement, Testimony, and Personal Justification |
| title_sort | peer disagreement testimony and personal justification |
| topic | peer disagreement testimony justification social epistemology evidential weight |
| url | http://www.athensjournals.gr/humanities/2015-2-3-1-Smith.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicholasdsmith peerdisagreementtestimonyandpersonaljustification |