Ursula Renz, “Perspective-Taking as a Norm of Doxastic Rationality: What’s the Point of Kant’s Second Maxim?”
Tomorrow, October 30th, Ursula Renz will give the following talk: “Perspective-Taking as a Norm of Doxastic Rationality: What’s the Point of Kant’s Second Maxim?” in the Peter Jäggi room (MIS04 4112).
Here is the link for the online meeting, if you cannot attend in person: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_M2UyYTdlNTgtZjhjMy00NjgwLTg3NmUtYmMzYjM5ZTdlZjg3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2288c9873b-3065-42a0-9f3c-ac864c0ac788%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2295152ecd-5dcb-4819-b4c7-e9b2e4b24d9d%22%7d
Abstract
The paper elaborates on Kant’s views the disanalogy between democratic and epistemic norms by a discussion of the second maxim of common sense as put forward in § 40 of the Critique of Judgment. Demanding that we are to “think in the position of everyone else”, this maxim seems to call for a democratization of knowledge according to which we must consider the opinions of others to form rational belief. In my paper, however, I will advocate a reading of this maxim in context of the entire set of the maxims of common sense that forbids a communitarian approach to knowledge. On the contrary, my point will be that these maxims are to preserve or increase the rationality of individuals in the first place, and this in a manner that they enable people to think for themselves, rather than together with others.