[SydPhil] ACHEEV External Seminar Series: Mark Alfano (MQ), 11am, 18 October 2022, Wollongong

[Yves Aquino]

Hi all,

Apologies for cross-posting.

ACHEEV invites you to a seminar featuring Associate Professor Mark Alfano
of Macquarie University’s Philosophy Department.

THE RELATION BETWEEN TRUST IN INSTITUTIONS AND EPISTEMIC VIRTUE AND VICE
Associate Professor Mark Alfano, Department of Philosophy, Macquarie
University
When: 11am, Tuesday 18 October
In person: 29.111 UOW
Online: To follow
Register via Eventbrite: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/1F37CNLJyQUN6lDJMIm21gy?domain=eventbrite.com.au

Abstract: You have to take a lot of things on trust. We all do. So if you
think you’re doing your own research, you’re almost certainly still taking
things on trust (and probably trusting the wrong people). This means that
we need to cultivate a certain kind of open-mindedness: to be good at
finding the right people to trust, rather than to try to go it on our own
or gullibly trust every next person we hear from on any topic whatsoever.
Whether your trust in institutions is justified depends on their prevailing
methodological standards, as Jeroen de Ridder recently argued in an
excellent paper. Unfortunately, we are generally not well-positioned to
assess the methodological of a discipline in which we aren't already
experts. One thing we can assess, however, is whether the experts in a
field engage in robust criticism of one another. For this reason, in-group
criticism by expert communities is extremely valuable. It can be unpleasant
and awkward. There's a reason the Athenians put Socrates to death. But as
finite networked animals, this is our best bet for forming reasonable
opinions. If this is right, then trust in institutions that engage in
robust self-criticism is probably your best bet, epistemically speaking,
even if it's not a sure thing. I present evidence from multiple studies of
tens of thousands of participants in dozens of countries that strongly
suggest that this is the case.

Bio: Mark works in philosophy (epistemology, moral psychology, philosophy
of science), social science (personality psychology, social psychology),
and computer science. He also brings digital humanities methods to bear on
both contemporary problems and the history of philosophy (especially
Nietzsche).

For queries, please email ME yaquino at uow.edu.au.

Best
Yves

-- 
*Dr. Yves Saint James C. Aquino, MD, PhD*
He/him/his
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values
University of Wollongong, New South Wales, *Australia*
Website: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/JwfeCOMKzVTAORzl2CvwFar?domain=yvesaquino.com
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UOW Scholars Page <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/9nBNCQnMBZf6RAMgNtkwou3?domain=scholars.uow.edu.au>
Recent publication: Aquino, Y.S.J., Rogers, W.A., Scully, J.L. et al.
Ethical Guidance for Hard Decisions: A Critical Review of Early
International COVID-19 ICU Triage Guidelines. Health Care Anal (2021).
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/WgouCROND2urOmjogSqOGMy?domain=doi.org
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/WgouCROND2urOmjogSqOGMy?domain=doi.org>
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