On Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions: Failure to Detect Differences between Socioeconomic Groups
12 Pages Posted: 18 Dec 2012 Last revised: 27 Feb 2014
Date Written: December 17, 2012
Abstract
In their paper titled Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions published in 2001, Jonathan Weinberg, Shaun Nichols and Stephen Stich present data showing that individuals from different ethnic backgrounds as well as different socioeconomic statuses have different epistemic intuitions on Gettier-style scenarios. In their section on socioeconomic backgrounds, Weinberg and colleagues conclude that socioeconomic status has a “major impact on subjects’ epistemic intuitions” (p. 453). In a previous paper we attempted to replicate the results regarding differences among ethnic groups. Our replication attempts failed. Our focus in that paper was on differences between ethnic groups and we did not have sufficient data to offer an analysis on participants of different socioeconomic statuses. Given the failure of replication for the ethnicity section of Weinberg et al. (2001), we attempted to replicate the results concerning participants from different socioeconomic backgrounds for this paper. Here, again, we could not replicate the results. Given our data, it does not appear that socioeconomic status by itself has an impact on epistemic intuitions.
Keywords: experimental philosophy, experimental epistemology, epistemology, epistemic intuitions
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