Does know-how need to be autonomous?

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In chapter 4 of Autonomous Knowledge: Radical Enhancement, Autonomy and the Future of Knowing (OUP, 2021), Carter takes on the question of whether there is an epistemic autonomy condition on know-how, e.g. one that might rule out cases of radical performance enhancement as genuine cases of know-how. In this paper, I examine Carter’s proposal and identify an asymmetry in the way his epistemic autonomy condition is applied to enhanced and non-enhanced instances of know-how. In particular, it seems that either an autonomy condition is required for all forms of knowledge-how or it is not. If it is, then a potential worry is that young children do not manifest their know-how when doing things that we would normally be inclined to say they know how to do. If it is not, then young children do manifest some forms of non-enhanced know-how. While Carter chooses the second option, I argue that it is better to choose the first one, that is, to claim that all know-how needs to be epistemically autonomous along the lines he has described. I also show how this does not exclude young children from knowing how to do things.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-18
Number of pages18
JournalInquiry (United Kingdom)
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 12 Feb 2024

Keywords

  • Knowledge–how
  • Autonomy
  • Cognitive development
  • Cognitive enhancement

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