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‘I Know What It's Like’: Epistemic Arrogance, Disability, and Race

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2022

NABINA LIEBOW  and
RACHEL LEVIT ADES
NABINA LIEBOW*
Affiliation:
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
RACHEL LEVIT ADES*
Affiliation:
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
*
liebow@american.edu
rachel.levitades@asu.edu
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Abstract

Understanding and empathy on the part of those in privileged positions are often cited as powerful tools in the fight against oppression. Too often, however, those in positions of power assume they know what it is like to be less well off when, in actuality, they do not. This kind of assumption represents a thinking vice we dub synecdoche epistemic arrogance. In instances of synecdoche epistemic arrogance, a person who has privilege wrongly assumes, based on limited experiences, that she can know what it is like to experience a particular form of oppression. We argue two main points. First, synecdoche epistemic arrogance can lead to a variety of moral harms. Second, synecdoche epistemic arrogance is often tied to other troubling epistemic patterns, which we discuss in the context of disability and race simulations. Overall, the essay helps demonstrate how synecdoche epistemic arrogance can contribute to injustice.

Keywords

disabilityracismepistemic arrogancesocial epistemologyoppression
Type
Article
Information
Journal of the American Philosophical Association , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , Fall 2022 , pp. 531 - 551
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Philosophical Association

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Footnotes

The authors are grateful for the anonymous referees’ helpful comments. They also give a special thanks to Emmalynn Beck, Megan Dean, Asia Ferrin, Naomi Joseph, Maura Priest, and Karen Rice.

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