Overview
- Describes a set of cognitive tools to study ignorance
- Bridges the concepts of ignorance and human agency
- Discusses the distribution of ignorance in online communities
Part of the book series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics (SAPERE, volume 46)
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Fugitive Nature of Ignorance
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Front Matter
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The Tenacity of Ignorance in Human Ampliative Reasoning
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Front Matter
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The Social Diffusion of Ignorance
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Cognitive Traits of Ignorance
- Cognitive Autoimmunity
- Epistemic Bubbles
- Ecocognitive Model
- Ignorance-based Reasoning
- Ignorance-based Mental Models
- Ignorance-sharing
- Cognitive Niches
- Abductive Reasoning
- Distribution of Ignorance
- Ignorance in Social Media
- Epistemology of Ignorance
- Ignorance Virtue
- Cognitive Virtues of Fallacies
- Ignorance in Information-sharing
- Ignorance Immunization
About this book
This book offers a comprehensive philosophical investigation of ignorance. Using a set of cognitive tools and models, it discusses features that can describe a state of ignorance if linked to a particular type of cognition affecting the agent’s social behavior, belief system, and inferential capacity. The author defines ignorance as a cognitive condition that can be either passively (and unconsciously) borne by an agent or actively nurtured by him or her, and a condition that entails epistemic limitations (which can be any lack of knowledge, belief, information or data) that affect the agent’s behavior, belief system, and inferential capacity.
The author subsequently describes the ephemeral nature of ignorance, its tenacity in the development of human inferential and cognitive performance, and the possibility of sharing ignorance among human agents within the social dimension. By combining previous frameworks such as the naturalization of logic, the eco-cognitive perspective in philosophy and concepts from Peircean epistemology, and adding original ideas derived from the author’s own research and reflections, the book develops a new cognitive framework to help understand the nature of ignorance and its influence on the human condition.
Reviews
“Ignorant Cognition is an ambitious attempt to develop a systematic approach to ignorance, covering a wide range of topics. I believe that Arfini successfully shows that ignorance must be studied from a holistic perspective … . The book is solidly argued, and it combines ideas from several different disciplines in an interesting way. … it certainly worth the effort of those interested in ignorance from a cognitive, epistemological, or social perspective.” (Matías Osta‑Velez, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol. 40, 2021)
“A philosophically valuable book and a welcome addition to the literature on ignorance. … To finish a philosophy book with a whole set of new ideas to explore in my own head, is a wonderful thing. I have my own interests in the small cognitive moments where ignorance and knowledge collide, and Arfini’s book has given me much to think about indeed.” (Samantha Copeland, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol. 40, 2021)
Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Ignorant Cognition
Book Subtitle: A Philosophical Investigation of the Cognitive Features of Not-Knowing
Authors: Selene Arfini
Series Title: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14362-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-14361-9Published: 28 February 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-14362-6Published: 19 February 2019
Series ISSN: 2192-6255
Series E-ISSN: 2192-6263
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 192
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Cognitive Psychology, Epistemology, Ethics