When you don’t know something, you should be humble about it. But what if you do know? Recent philosophical research argues that knowing entitles one to take premises for granted in reasoning. This implies that when you know, you need not be humble.
This grant challenges this conclusion, exploring the possibility of humble knowers, who know a claim while remaining humble about it. The grant will explore humble knowing in application to both private decision making and public policy. The grant will fund three conferences with leading scholars in philosophy. The grant will also fund 6 three-week research visits for international researchers to work in person with the grant leaders, producing new research papers. The project leaders will complete 6 new papers about humility as a result of the grant, and will publish an edited volume from the collaborative activities of the research visitors and conferences.
The project will have broad reach through public lectures, podcast episodes, and essays in popular online magazines. The body of work that emerges will help shape future philosophical discussion of humility.
