Cosmopolitan arrogance, epistemic modesty and the motivational prerequisites for solidarity

the search for the self in becketts theatre: waiting for godot and endgame

this thesis is based upon the works of samuel beckett. one of the greatest writers of contemporary literature. here, i have tried to focus on one of the main themes in becketts works: the search for the real "me" or the real self, which is not only a problem to be solved for beckett man but also for each of us. i have tried to show becketts techniques in approaching this unattainable goal, base...

Epistemic modesty, ostentatiousness and the uncertainties of epigenetics: on the knowledge machinery of (social) science

Epigenetic processes are garnering attention in the social sciences, where some scholars assert their importance for theorizing social life. I engage with such ideas here by drawing on interviews with leading bioscientists. To begin with, I underscore the (productive) uncertainties of those working in and around epigenetics; I describe these as a manifestation of 'epistemic modesty', and sugges...

Marc Alspector-kelly Constructive Empiricism and Epistemic Modesty: Response to Van Fraassen and Monton

Bas van Fraassen claims that constructive empiricism strikes a balance between the empiricist’s commitments to epistemic modesty – that one’s opinion should extend no further beyond the deliverances of experience than is necessary – and to the rationality of science. In ‘‘Should the Empiricist be a Constructive Empiricist?’’ I argued that if the constructive empiricist follows through on her co...

Truth-bearers and Modesty *

In this paper I discuss Künne’s Modest Theory of truth, and develop a variation on a worry that Field expresses with respect to Horwich’s related view. The worry is not that deflationary accounts are false, but rather that, because they take propositions as truth-bearers, they are not philosophically interesting. Compatibly with the intuitions of ordinary speakers, we can understand proposition...

The arrogance of preventive medicine.