Assertion, stakes and expected blameworthiness: An insensitive invariantist solution to the bank cases

• Main Author: YIP, Brandon
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: Knowledge Norm of Assertion; Contextualism; Pragmatic Encroachment; Insensitive Invariantism; Stakes; Philosophy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4133; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5392/viewcontent/Assertion_Stakes_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Contextualists and Subject Sensitive Invariantists often cite the knowledge norm of assertion as part of their argument. They claim that the knowledge norms in conjunction with our intuitions about when a subject is properly asserting in low or high stakes contexts provides strong evidence that what counts as knowledge depends on practical factors. In this paper, I present new data to suggest they are mistaken in the way they think about cases involving high and low stakes and I show how insensitive invariantists can explain the data. I exploit recent work done on the distinction between flouting a norm and being blamed for that violation to formulate a rigorous theory of rational expected blameworthiness that allows insensitive invariantists to explain the data cited.