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Conference Announcement Theme: Responsibility, Knowledge, and Power Type: International Workshop Institution: African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (ACEPS), University of Johannesburg Location: Johannesburg (South Africa) Date: 18.–19.8.2017 __________________________________________________ Think of everyday sayings such as, ‘Forgive him for he knows not what he does’, ‘Knowledge is power’, and ‘With power comes responsibility’. And think of the ethics debates about whether knowing what one is doing is a precondition for being responsible for one’s action, and whether one’s responsibility to help others depends on one’s ability to do so. Or think, again, of the connection that feminist epistemologists and race theorists have urged between our social status and our ability to acquire and produce knowledge. Finally, consider the views popular amongst post-modernists that making knowledge claims is invariably an expression of power, and that power ought to be used so as to enable a wide array of people to participate in knowledge production. Interestingly, in each case, only the connection between two of the three concepts of responsibility, knowledge, and power is explicitly explored. This is strange given the significance of the concepts and the claimed connections amongst any pair of them. The main aim of this workshop is to fill this lacuna by identifying future directions for research on the connections amongst all three concepts. Programme Friday 18 August 9:00-10:30 Keynote: Lubomira Radoilska (University of Kent) Ignoring what one is doing 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-11:50 Ward Jones (Rhodes University) Trying to Think Through Moral Deference 12:00-12:50 Garikai Madavo (University of Johannesburg) “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” Really? 12:50-14:00 Lunch 14:00-15:00 Invited: Chad Harris (University of Johannesburg) Decolonizing epistemic Responsibility: Exploring African alternatives to Western conceptions of rationality 15:10-16:00 Monique Whitaker (Wits University) Acknowledgement as a Route to Denial Saturday 19 August 9:00-10:00 Invited: Thad Metz (University of Johannesburg) Why It’s Important for a Society to Know What It’s Doing: An Afro-Communal Account 10:10-11:00 Anna Hartford (University of Cape Town) Complex Akrasia & Blameworthiness: When knowing wrongdoing is less blameworthy than unknowing wrongdoing 11:00-11:30 Coffee 11:30-12:20 Bosco Bae (University of Pretoria) Knowledge, Responsibility, and Power in the Human Economy of Traditional Healers 12:30-13:30 Invited: Munamato Chemhuru (University of Johannesburg) An African Communitarian View of Responsibility 13:30-14:30 Lunch Read abstracts: http://africancentre-epistemology-phil-sci.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/2/2/2622505/0_rkp_programme_and_abstracts.pdf Contact: Veli Mitova, Co-director of ACEPS Philosophy Department University of Johannesburg B-Ring 607A, APK PO Box 524 Auckland Park, 2006 South Africa Email: [email protected] Web: http://africancentre-epistemology-phil-sci.weebly.com __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ __________________________________________________
