The Deliverances of Standpoint: A Defense of the Epistemic Advantage Thesis

Recent work in the standpoint epistemology literature has featured arguments that non-dominant group members *cannot* have a unique epistemic advantage that dominant group individuals cannot similarly possess. Against these views, this talk presents an argument that non-dominant group members who achieve a standpoint can have a unique epistemic advantage that dominant group members cannot similarly obtain. This argument is based on two premises. The first premise is that if a non-dominant group member achieves a standpoint, then this individual has developed a particular epistemic skill which yields them a unique epistemic advantage. The second premise is that if a non-dominant group member achieves a standpoint, then she will be more likely to avoid believing certain falsehoods than individuals who have not achieved this standpoint.

Eric Bayruns García https://experts.mcmaster.ca/people/bayrunse Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy McMaster University

About the Speaker:

Eric Bayruns García is an assistant professor in McMaster University’s Department of Philosophy and he is a Research Associate in the African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at the University of Johannesburg. He specializes in philosophy of race, epistemology and Latin American philosophy. His research focuses on how racial injustice and colonialism relate to epistemic phenomena such as understanding, ethical phenomena such as blame, linguistic phenomena such as meaning, and the nature of race itself. His work has been published in peer-reviewed academic philosophy journals such as Episteme, Social Epistemology, Critical Philosophy of Race, Feminist Philosophy Quarterly and the Journal of Social Philosophy. [Here](https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/01/03/apa-member-interview/?fbclid=IwAR2_HzPRrFxRHJukmMy9wuWzGfU5PbgyCZKVsJ1vuGrJUdBBZmbx7X96wco) is an APA interview with García. [Here](https://alwaysalreadypodcast.wordpress.com/2021/03/29/garcia/?fbclid=IwAR2PHX3frQS2eDSbiY_Lbd5kCZhjprvukfeDG2IWc9yNrGYPFXQWKB3uB0E) is a podcast episode of the Always Already podcast in which he discusses his work.

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This is a talk with audience Q&A presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics that is free to attend and open to the public. Free refreshments will be provided at the event. The talk will also be streamed online with live chat here [to be posted].

About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca):

The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life.

In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society.

The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai