Arkoff's How Is Epistemology Political?
In Linda Alcoff article How Is Epistemology Political? one aspect she relates epistemology as political is the political conditions of knowledge production. She believes that epistemology is based on active social practice and that they shape what we know about knowledge, such as going to work, going to school, cooking, showering is important to people as parts of their everyday life activities. She also points out that epistemology is gender and racially exclusive and that it is due to power and privilege. For example, white men produce theories of knowledge. Eventually, these hierarchies’ discursive practices come into play such as of who can be heard? Who is ignored? Who is credible? It depends on a certain person based on gender, race,
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People don’t realize it because we are stuck in our own mind and our own ways. Her philosophy about epistemology makes us question the previous epistemologist we have read because only white men produced the theories of knowledge. Why not women or other races? Society is actually setting these expectations of the hierarchy without even realizing it. For example, a person (man or women) goes to the car shop and that person chooses a man than a woman to work on her car even though the woman may have more experience. Most people would choose a man. Why? Because society has made people think that way and base their knowledge on experiences of movies, shows or even walking into a car shop because you see more men working on cars than women. Whatsoever, the women had more experience working on cars, most people would still choose a man, which shows how politically incorrect society is and gave that man epistemic authority because most thought he had more knowledge on cars than the woman. This is a current pattern in society that occurs, giving certain people epistemic authority. Knowing these political conditions of knowledge production, people can learn to be more open-minded about other theories from the opposing side or a different race or sex or lower class a chance in knowledge. Arkoff wants us to be aware of the politics behind epistemology because it can make knowledge
People don’t realize it because we are stuck in our own mind and our own ways. Her philosophy about epistemology makes us question the previous epistemologist we have read because only white men produced the theories of knowledge. Why not women or other races? Society is actually setting these expectations of the hierarchy without even realizing it. For example, a person (man or women) goes to the car shop and that person chooses a man than a woman to work on her car even though the woman may have more experience. Most people would choose a man. Why? Because society has made people think that way and base their knowledge on experiences of movies, shows or even walking into a car shop because you see more men working on cars than women. Whatsoever, the women had more experience working on cars, most people would still choose a man, which shows how politically incorrect society is and gave that man epistemic authority because most thought he had more knowledge on cars than the woman. This is a current pattern in society that occurs, giving certain people epistemic authority. Knowing these political conditions of knowledge production, people can learn to be more open-minded about other theories from the opposing side or a different race or sex or lower class a chance in knowledge. Arkoff wants us to be aware of the politics behind epistemology because it can make knowledge