Work

Defending the Need for a Foundational Epistemic Capability in Education

Year: 2019

Type: article

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.

Source: Journal of Human Development and Capabilities

DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2018.1536695

Author: Melanie Walker

Institution: University of the Free State

Language: English

Topic: Education, Philosophy, and Society

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Research Foundation, Universiteit van die Vrystaat, Economic and Social Research Council