Philosophical Topics

Volume 41, Issue 2, Fall 2013

Envisioning Plurality: Feminist Perspectives on Pluralism in Ethics, Politics, and Social Theory

Jennifer Lisa Vest
Pages 31-58

What Would Philosophic Pluralism Look Like?
True Dialogue, Epistemic Credibility, Rational Parity, and Death in the University

Because pluralism at its heart is an epistemic problem in philosophy, what is at issue in discussions of philosophical pluralism are the definitions of who counts as a knower and what counts as knowledge. In this philopoetic article, in which philosophic claims are interwoven with poetic and narrative recountings of my own experiences with racist patriarchal violence in the discipline, I argue for an epistemic approach to creating pluralism in philosophy through the satisfaction of seven conditions. These conditions require, at minimum, that we consider the importance of hiring multiply-positioned persons; that we critique patriarchy and white hegemonic discourses; that we rethink assumptions about epistemic credibility; and that we dispense with “perverse dialogues.” Finally, we must encourage “true dialogue” and create a “new dialogic” in philosophy.