APA Newsletters

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2

Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy

Announcements

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CALL FOR PAPERS-Social Epistemology: A Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Policy Special Issue on Feminist

Epistemology

In the last two decades, the work of feminist epistemologists has been one of the major forces contributing to the development of more "social" epistemologies. What began as criticism of and reaction to more traditional forms of epistemology and their lack of attention to gender has now developed into a rich and vibrant field of positive inquiry. As feminist epistemologists continue to develop new ways of understanding the social in knowing, they also negotiate their way through the normative demands of a critical epistemology, remaining committed to the need to provide critical accounts of our current knowledge practices. For this issue, we invite paper submissions that explore the influences of feminist epistemology on issues of concern for social epistemologists broadly speaking, and/or further the development of feminist epistemology by considering the most pressing challenges it faces.

Suggested topics and issues to be addressed include:

How have the projects and methods of feminist epistemology intersected those of other social epistemologists on such topics as testimony, objectivity, the normatively of epistemology, and the role of values in science? How have their methods and results remained distinctive?

How successful have feminist epistemologists been at developing theories that adequately account for the epistemic relevance of social divisions such as race, class and sexuality, in addition to gender? How are these issues best addressed?

What kind of knowledge policy recommendations are supported by a feminist epistemology?

How can feminist epistemologists best analyze the social elements of knowing without diminishing the importance of critically evaluating our current knowledge practices?

What are the benefits and challenges of employing a naturalistic approach within feminist epistemology?

How can the idea of "situated knowledges" be further developed by feminist epistemologists?

How can the idea of objectivity best be reconstructed to do justice to feminist concerns about our knowledge practices, especially science?

How do feminist studies of the actual practices of science (including case studies) shed light on our understanding of knowledge as a whole, and the relation between science and other forms of knowing?

How have developments in nonfeminist forms of social epistemology provided feminists with useful tools of analysis?

Are feminist epistemologists necessarily partisans in the "science wars," or can they make peace?

How does feminist epistemology support a general feminist social and political agenda?

In what ways are the ideas of "voice" and the ethics of "care" in feminist ethics connected to projects in feminist epistemology?

Submissions are due August 15th, 2001, and should be sent in duplicate to:

Mark Webb
Philosophy Department
Texas Tech University
Box 43092
Lubbock, TX 79409-3092.

Inquiries can be directed to either Mark Webb (address above) or

Heidi Grasswick
Visiting Research Fellow
Calgary Institute for the Humanities
Earth Sciences 640
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB T2N IN4, Canada
Emails: Heidi Grasswick, grasswick@middlebury.edu
Mark Webb, mark.webb@ttu.edu

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APA Newsletters

Spring 2001 Volume 00, Number 2

Spring 2001
Volume 00, Number 2