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235128

Group knowledge

a real-world approach

Søren Klausen

pp. 813-839

Abstract

In spite of the booming interest in social epistemology, explicit analyses of group knowledge remain rare. Most existing accounts are based on theories of joint intentionality. I argue that this approach, though not without merit or useful applications, is inadequate both when it comes to accounting for actual group knowledge attributions and for purposes of meliorative social epistemology. As an alternative, I outline a liberal, de-intellectualized account, which allows for the complex distribution of epistemic states typical of most real-world collectives, and makes minimal requirements as to the psychological underpinnings of collective states of knowing and the formal features of groups. The account is inspired by theories of distributed and extended cognition. It is guided by the principle that we should use the same standard when dealing with social and individual epistemology. Careful attention to what is normally required—and, in particular, not required—for attributing knowledge to individuals lends support the more liberal view.

Publication details

Published in:

Jespersen Bjørn, Duží Marie (2015) Hyperintensionality. Synthese 192 (3).

Pages: 813-839

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-014-0589-9

Full citation:

Klausen Søren (2015) „Group knowledge: a real-world approach“. Synthese 192 (3), 813–839.