Defending the Need for a Foundational Epistemic Capability in Education

Melanie Walker

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 2019, vol. 20, issue 2, 218-232

Abstract: The paper takes up Sen’s concerns with education on the one hand and public reasoning on the other, and shows that his concerns require that formal education develop a capability that potentially fosters inclusive public reasoning in all students. Drawing on and extending Miranda Fricker’s work, and informed by a global South positionality and empirical research, the argument is made for an epistemic capability that includes attention to the cognitive and knowledge but also to a domain of sharing and giving values. How this capability can be fostered and how it can also be thwarted is discussed. Finally, a concern with how an adequate living standard underpins this epistemic capability and the goodness of an educational life that a student can lead is considered. Overall, the paper argues that education—and fostering an epistemic capability—can make a crucial contribution to inclusive reasoning and democratic participation in a (more) just society.

Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jhudca:v:20:y:2019:i:2:p:218-232

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DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2018.1536695

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