Work

Two Types of Authority? Linguistic Insights

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: It is commonly assumed that authority exists in two primary forms: political and epistemic. This paper argues that the conflation of these forms – and, in particular, the political inflection of epistemic authority – is a feature specific of English linguistic usage. Through a comparative survey of the term ‘authority’ across selected European languages, the paper shows that this conceptual overlap is not universal. These linguistic divergences invite a critical re-evaluation of the often-assumed conceptual continuity between political and epistemic authority. The paper further examines the normative attitudes toward authority embedded in different linguistic traditions and argues that these alternative frameworks may provide more nuanced and potentially more plausible conceptions of epistemic authority.

Source: International Journal of Philosophical Studies

DOI: 10.1080/09672559.2026.2716617

Author: Dominik Jarczewski

Institution: Jagiellonian University

Language: English

Topic: Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: University of St Andrews, Narodowe Centrum Nauki, University of Johannesburg

Award: G3863732439