Cognitive Injustice

This presentation is based on a work co-authored with Richard Menary (Macquarie University).

Enculturation is the process by which human cognitive abilities are altered and extended by cultural learning. Human minds are highly plastic and depend upon cultural learning and high-fidelity transmission to acquire knowledge, abilities, and develop and refine cognitive capacities. The extent to which enculturation happens is still a contested issue but in the literature we find reference to different cognitive abilities that are deeply enculturated. However, we inhabit an unjust world, a world with social injustice that results from the unfair exercise of material and social power. As a consequence, the process of enculturation is permeated by unjust power dynamics. In this work, we focus on the effect on human cognition that unjust enculturating processes have. In particular, we examine how the enculturation of cognition can be bad for us as cognitive agents. To do so, we introduce the notion of cognitive injustice, and propose a way in which social injustice and cognitive enculturation can negatively affect human cognitive abilities.

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This event is organized by E. Rast. The purpose of this seminar series is to give researchers a platform to discuss ongoing work and problems in the philosophy of language, epistemology, argumentation, metaethics, and related areas. For administrative inquiries, please contact Erich Rast at erich@snafu.de.