AUTHORITY & AUTONOMY
Workshop within the TWF-funded TrAU! project   

That intellectual autonomy is a desirable thing, something to admire in others and to nurture and cultivate in ourselves, is broadly assumed as true. We should “use our own reason”, as Immanuel Kant famously claimed. But what does it mean? How does an intellectually autonomous subject look like? The intellectually autonomous subject is not completely intellectually independent and self-reliant. We live and thrive intellectually in communities in which there is a division of epistemic labor, and in which competence and expertise are allocated unequally among subjects. But then, what is the role of autonomy in a world in which we have no choice but to rely on experts and epistemic authorities to achieve our epistemic goals? Can a subject be intellectually autonomous, while relying on others and while trusting others for the achievement of intellectual goods – such as truth, knowledge, and understanding?

An international spectrum of philosophers will address and discuss these topics. Early career scholars will serve as commentators. This will promote a horizontal knowledge transfer on all levels of experience and hopefully foster the general discussion.

This is the first international event within the TWF-funded TrAU! project. You can find more information about the project here.

Organizers

Federica Isabella Malfatti, Georg Stadler

Speakers

Michel Croce, University of Genoa

Katherine Dormandy, University of Innsbruck

Catherine Z. Elgin, Harvard University

Thomas Grundmann, University of Cologne

Christoph Jäger, University of Innsbruck and Humboldt University of Berlin

Commentators

Federica Isabella Malfatti, University of Innsbruck

Clement Mayambala, University of Innsbruck

Georg Stadler, University of Innsbruck

Johanna Stüger, University of Innsbruck

Michael Vollmer, University of Innsbruck

Attendance is free, but since space is limited, please indicate your interest in attending with an email to federica.malfatti@uibk.ac.at

Program (provisional)

Tuesday, May 10

13:00-14:15         Katherine Dormandy, Science or Science Fundamentalism?

14:30-15:45         Michel Croce, Experts vs. Pseudo-Experts

16:15-17:30         Catherine Z. Elgin, Authority or Expertise?

Wednesday, May 11

9:00-10:15           Thomas Grundmann, Why Practical Deliberation does not Challenge Preemptive Authority

10:45-12:00        Christoph Jäger, Understanding, Authority, and Education