Joshi, Hrishikesh and McKenna, Robin
(2025)
The duty to listen
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 110 (2).
pp. 687-708.
ISSN 0031-8205, 1933-1592
Abstract
AbstractIn philosophical work on the ethics of conversational exchange, much has been written regarding the speaker side—i.e., on the rights and duties we have as speakers. This paper explores the relatively neglected topic of the duties pertaining to the listeners’ side of the exchange. Following W.K. Clifford, we argue that it's fruitful to think of our epistemic resources as common property. Furthermore, listeners have a key role in maintaining and improving these resources, perhaps a more important role than speakers. We develop this idea by drawing from Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber's “interactionist” picture of reason, which suggests that reasoning is essentially dialogical and relies on the epistemic vigilance of listeners. The paper defends an imperfect, prima facie duty to listen, one that is sufficiently strong to place substantial demands on individuals, but not so overly demanding as to be implausible.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | epistemic commons, ethics of belief, John Stuart Mill, reasoning |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Oct 2024 09:20 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jun 2026 19:53 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/phpr.13119 |
| Open Access URL: | http://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.13119 |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3186227 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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