Contemporary · Social Constructs · Philosophy

Epistemic Injustice

Miranda Fricker · 2007

"When we dismiss someone's testimony or ability to know something simply because of their race, gender, or social class, we commit a unique kind of violence against them."

The idea

Epistemic injustice occurs when a person is wronged specifically in their capacity as a 'knower.' It is the subtle, often unconscious bias that causes us to immediately doubt the credibility of certain groups of people.

Why it works

The takeaway — recall it first

Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race

"Race, as commonly understood, a set of discrete, biologically fixed categories that determine intelligence, character, or worth, has no basis in human genetics; the boundaries we draw between racial groups are social and historical constructions, not natural biological divisions."

Ashley Montagu · BookContinue→