In this course we are going to examine a specific form of ignorance, which we might call a motivated non-knowing, in which false beliefs are cultivated and sustained in order to maintain systems of dominance and privilege. We will read recent work in this emerging field (e.g. by Miranda Fricker, Charles Mills, Shelley Tremain, Linda Martin Alcoff, and others), looking at ignorance from the perspective of race, disability, and gender, with an eye to determining the different ways ignorance is produced and maintained. A central concern of ours will be on questions of responsibility and culpable ignorance.

Course Outline [1]