Epistemic freedom and education

Abstract

First of all, I define the concept of epistemic freedom in the light of the changing nature of educational practice that prioritise over-prescriptive conceptions of learning. I defend the ‘reality’ of this freedom against possible determinist-related criticisms. I do this by stressing the concept of agency as characterised by ‘becoming’. I also discuss briefly some of the technical literature on the subject. I then move on to discuss Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and Foucault’s idea of ‘productive power’: I argue for the need of a counter-narrative of freedom that takes the form of a genealogy. Finally I discuss in more detail the nature of epistemic freedom and briefly discuss the ethical implications of the concept.

Keywords:

• Freedom
• agency
• domination
• hegemony
• power

Notes

1. Galen Strawson argues against the idea of ‘causal freedom’, as he puts it, on the grounds that it leads to an internal regression (see Strawson 2002). But this view neglects, I think, the concept of agency which I elaborate in the paragraphs that follow. Agency is a response to its environment rather than a self-generating sui generis power.

2. This self-fulfilling prediction may bring about more than just a belief if it is the case that based on that belief I can give an instruction that would normally be carried out by someone else – no matter what the instruction, within reasonable limits. This particular extension of epistemic freedom is much discussed by Velleman but it lies outside the scope of this paper since I am only interested in beliefs tout court.

3. Alison Fernandes in a wide-ranging but rather technical discussion suggests that our feeling of freedom described by Velleman arises not so much from being free of evidence but rather that this arises because we are ignorant of the outcome. But I do not think that too much hangs on this distinction since Fernandes seems to share with Velleman the supposition that the feeling of freedom is still an illusion. See Fernandes (2016).

4. Most notably in the UK government policy document for higher education, Teaching Excellence Framework (2016). See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/556355/TEF_Year_2_specification.pdf.