Virtue epistemology

Author(s):  
Linda Zagzebski

‘Virtue epistemology’ is the name of a class of theories that analyse fundamental epistemic concepts such as justification or knowledge in terms of properties of persons rather than properties of beliefs. Some of these theories make the basic concept constitutive of justification or knowledge that of a reliable belief-forming process, or a reliable belief-forming faculty or, alternatively, a properly functioning faculty. Others make the fundamental concept that of an epistemic or intellectual virtue in the sense of virtue used in ethics. In all these theories, epistemic evaluation rests on some virtuous quality of the person that enables them to act in a cognitively effective and commendable way, although not all use the term ‘virtue’. The early, simple forms of process reliabilism are best treated as precursors to virtue epistemology since the latter arose out of the former and has added requirements for knowledge intended to capture the idea of epistemic behaviour that is subjectively responsible as well as objectively reliable. Proponents of virtue epistemology claim a number of advantages. It is said to bypass disputes between foundationalists and coherentists on proper cognitive structure, to avoid sceptical worries, to avoid the impasse between internalism and externalism, and to broaden the range of epistemological inquiry in a way that permits the recovering of such neglected epistemic values as understanding and wisdom.

Author(s):  
Linda Zagzebski

‘Virtue epistemology’ is the name of a class of theories that focus epistemic evaluation on good epistemic properties of persons rather than on properties of beliefs. The former or some interesting subset of the former are called intellectual virtues. Some of these theories propose that the traditional concepts of justification or knowledge can be analysed in terms of intellectual virtue, whereas others maintain that these traditional concepts are defective or uninteresting and it is desirable to replace them with the notion of an intellectual virtue. In all these theories, epistemic evaluation rests on some virtuous quality of persons that enables them to act in a cognitively effective and commendable way. Simple reliabilism may be treated either as a precursor to virtue epistemology or as an early form of it. Later versions add requirements for virtue intended to capture the idea that it is a quality which makes an epistemic agent subjectively responsible as well as objectively reliable. Proponents of virtue epistemology claim a number of advantages. It is said to bypass disputes between foundationalists and coherentists on proper cognitive structure, to avoid sceptical worries, to avoid the impasse between internalism and externalism and to broaden the range of epistemological enquiry to include such neglected epistemic values as understanding and wisdom. Some theorists argue that the real virtue of virtue epistemology is the way it permits us to redefine the central questions of epistemology. In addition, since virtue epistemology can be blended with virtue ethics, it holds out the promise of a unified theory of value.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 838-843
Author(s):  
Philipp Müller ◽  
Bernd-Arno Behrens ◽  
Sven Hübner ◽  
Hendrik Vogt ◽  
Daniel Rosenbusch ◽  
...  

Techniken zur Steigerung der Formgebungsgrenzen in der Umformtechnik sind von hoher wirtschaftlicher Bedeutung. In dieser Arbeit wird eine Schwingungsüberlagerung im Krafthauptfluss eines Axialformprozesses zur Ausprägung einer Verzahnungsgeometrie untersucht. Die Auswirkungen der Schwingung auf die erzielbare Ausfüllung der Zahnkavitäten werden analysiert sowie die Parameter Schmierung und Oberflächengüte der Halbzeuge in ihrer kombinierten Wirkung untersucht. Es konnte eine Reduzierung der mittleren Umformkraft sowie eine Erhöhung der Formfüllung festgestellt werden. Techniques for extending the production limits in forming technology are of great economic importance. In this research, a superimposed oscillation in the main force flow of an axial forming process to form an axial gear geometry is investigated. The effects of the superimposed oscillation on the achievable form-filling of the tooth cavities are analyzed and the parameters lubrication and surface quality of the semi-finished products are investigated in their combined effect. A reduction of the averaged forming force as well as an increase of the form-filling could be achieved.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz Tomczak ◽  
Zbigniew Pater ◽  
Tomasz Bulzak

This paper presents selected numerical and experimental results of a skew rolling process for producing balls using helical tools. The study investigates the effect of the billet’s initial temperature on the quality of produced balls and the rolling process itself. In addition, the effect of billet diameter on the quality of produced balls is investigated. Experimental tests were performed using a helical rolling mill available at the Lublin University of Technology. The experiments consisted of rolling 40 mm diameter balls with the use of two helical tools. To determine optimal rolling parameters ensuring the highest quality of produced balls, numerical modelling was performed using the finite element method in the Forge software. The numerical analysis involved the determination of metal flow kinematics, temperature and damage criterion distributions, as well as the measurement of variations in the force parameters. The results demonstrate that the highest quality balls are produced from billet preheated to approximately 1000 °C.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 4-12
Author(s):  
Bhawani Prasad Mainali

This article has attempted to present an overview of basic concept, rationale and trends of decentralization in education planning and to identity the major policy issues and challenges relating to educational quality in Nepalese context. Decentralization in education around the world has based on the assumption that the quality of education will improve by shifting a decision making and accountability closer to schools, class rooms and learners.Academic Voices, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2013, Pages 4-12 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/av.v3i1.9979 


2012 ◽  
Vol 522 ◽  
pp. 268-271
Author(s):  
Ling Yan Sun ◽  
Qin Xiang Xia ◽  
Xiu Quan Cheng ◽  
Bang Yan Ye

Spin-forming of part with internal tooth is a new technology of the near-net forming in gear manufacturing field. And the main purpose of the parts spin-forming is to shape teeth on the internal surface of blank. In order to improve the forming quality of internal tooth, the effect of roller on tooth height of spline was investigated by processing experiments and finite element simulation. The result indicates that, for full-radius roller, a large nose radius has also witnessed a discernible growth in spinning force and tooth height; considering the uniformity of tooth height distribution of spun part and decrease in forming force, the bio-conical roller is more suitable for this forming process


Episteme ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-392
Author(s):  
Blake Roeber

ABSTRACTAccording to attributor virtue epistemology (the view defended by Ernest Sosa, John Greco, and others), S knows that p only if her true belief that p is attributable to some intellectual virtue, competence, or ability that she possesses. Attributor virtue epistemology captures a wide range of our intuitions about the nature and value of knowledge, and it has many able defenders. Unfortunately, it has an unrecognized consequence that many epistemologists will think is sufficient for rejecting it: namely, it makes knowledge depend on factors that aren't truth-relevant, even in the broadest sense of this term, and it also makes knowledge depend in counterintuitive ways on factors that are truth-relevant in the more common narrow sense of this term. As I show in this paper, the primary objection to interest-relative views in the pragmatic encroachment debate can be raised even more effectively against attributor virtue epistemology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Snjezana Prijic-Samarzija

The new and vibrant field of the epistemology of democracy, or the inquiry about the epistemic justification of democracy as a social system of procedures, institutions, and practices, as a cross-disciplinary endeavour, necessarily encounters both epistemologists and political philosophers. Despite possible complaints that this kind of discussion is either insufficiently epistemological or insufficiently political, my approach explicitly aims to harmonize the political and epistemic justification of democracy. In this article, I tackle some fundamental issues concerning the nature of the epistemic justification of democracy and the best theoretical framework for harmonizing political and epistemic values. I also inquire whether the proposed division of epistemic labour and the inclusion of experts can indeed improve the epistemic quality of decision-making without jeopardizing political justification. More specifically, I argue in favour of three theses. First, not only democratic procedures but also the outcomes of democracy, as a social system, need to be epistemically virtuous. Second, democracy?s epistemic virtues are more than just a tool for achieving political goals. Third, an appropriate division of epistemic labour has to overcome the limitations of both individual and collective intelligence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Cammaerts ◽  
Roger Cammaerts

Workers of the ant Myrmica sabuleti can acquire the notion of ‘nothing’, i.e. a basic concept of zero, through olfactory conditioning, the best when the odor is unpleasant (onion odor) and when the response to the absence of the odor is rewarded. With a pleasant odor (lavender, rosemary or vanilla odor), the ants learn best when the response to the odor is rewarded. To our knowledge this is the first time that olfactory operant conditioning is obtained in animals by rewarding their response to ‘nothing’. The present work also points out: - the impact of the kind and quality of the cue to be learned on the animals’ learning score, - the improvement of a given learning over successive similar learning experiments, - the obtaining of a better learning when the reward is associated with the animals’ preference.


2011 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 1069-1073
Author(s):  
Wen Bin Su ◽  
Xiang Bing Sun ◽  
Tao Li ◽  
Bao Jian Liu

Thickness thinning is the principal quality problem in the vacuum forming process of the refrigerator inner liner. In this paper, the structural parameters of refrigerator inner liner were analyzed based on orthogonal experiments and numerical simulation. Optimized structural parameters combination scheme and the significance level of structural parameters to thickness were obtained by analyzing the results of orthogonal experiments. Validation experiment results shown that the quality of refrigerator inner liner based on the optimized structural parameters combination scheme improved effectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 196-208
Author(s):  
Kirill V. Karpov ◽  

My primary concern in this article is the connection between virtue epistemology and evidentialism. This possible connection is analyzed upon, firstly, the example of the intellectual virtue of wisdom, and, secondly, the historical case – Thomas Aquinas’ approach to virtue of wisdom as an intellectual disposition (habitus). I argue that it is possible to offer such an interpretation of ‘intellectual virtue’ that aligns with the peripatetic tradition broadly understood (to which the epistemology of virtues ascends), and on the basis of which an evidentialist theory of justification is offered. In the first part of the paper, I briefly present the main interpretations of virtue epistemology and evidentialism in the light of externalism/internalism debate. In the second part I discuss Aquinas’ understanding of intellectual virtue as a disposition (habitus). The main concern here are virtues of theoretical habitus – wisdom and (scientific) knowledge. I show that habitus in this case is understood in two ways: as an ability, inherent to human beings, and as objective knowledge. Thus, there are two understandings of wisdom – as a virtue and knowledge (scientia). Finally, in the concluding parts of the paper, I outline possible ways of solving presented in the first part challenges to evidentialism and internalism.


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