Epistemic Vices

This conference is dedicated to the study of the epistemic vices. The last couple of decades have been enormous interest in the epistemic virtues and a growing literature now exists devoted to describing their description, definition, and application to specific areas of our social and epistemic life. But the ‘vices of the mind’ are by contrast rather neglected, even though they feature regularly in our everyday and public discourse. This conference is therefore dedicated to the epistemic vices: what are they? How are they related to the virtues? What makes them objectionable or negative? Does the status of a character trait as a vice depend on context? How might the study of epistemic vices be illuminated by psychology? Is there a history of the epistemic vices? Can collectives as well as agents be epistemically vicious? We welcome papers on any aspect of epistemic vice. 

This conference will be consistent with the BPA-SWIP Good Practice Scheme.