Reading Group
Title: Social Epistemology Reading Group
Organizers: Axel Gelfert, Fenner Tanswell, Nastasia Müller, Ásgeir Berg
Meeting Schedule: Every other Monday from 1 pm to 2:30 pm (we also invite participants to join us for lunch before the session at Manjurani, Knesebeckstraße 4, 10623 Berlin)
Starting: Monday, 13. April 2026
Location: Technical University Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, room H 7150
Contact: nastasia.mueller@tu-berlin.de
Traditional epistemology focuses on what it is to know, when one is justified in believing something, what good evidence amounts to, and so on. In reality, all of these notions are deeply social. We rely on testimony, trust experts, deliberate with others, inherit conceptual frameworks, and navigate institutions that shape what counts as knowledge, justified belief, or understanding. Social epistemology examines these collective dimensions of knowing and asks how social relations, practices, and structures affect the production, distribution, and evaluation of knowledge, justified belief, understanding, and other epistemic phenomena.
This reading group explores social epistemology, ranging from classical discussions of testimony and disagreement to contemporary debates about epistemic injustice and collective knowledge. We will consider how factors such as power, authority, trust, and social identity shape epistemic practices, and how knowledge emerges within communities, scientific networks, and public discourse.
