CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Uzel, Ayda |
|---|---|
| Title | Ignorance: What Is So Wrong With It? |
| Summary | This thesis aims to shed light on the harmful consequences of ignorance that creates, sustains, and reifies social injustice. I argue that ignorance causes harm in social life in a vast number of ways that usually go unnoticed. In the first chapter, I discuss ignorance as a general notion and different definitions of ignorance in the literature. Then I explain why those definitions fall short of tackling the problem I am concerned about. After that, I present my own definition of ignorance: I argue that any subject P is ignorant of x iff P does not care about x. To explain my reason for appealing to care, I discuss Virginia Held’s account of the ethics of care and the importance of care in social relationships. Then I review the instances of social injustices caused by care; such as gaslighting and silencing. In addition to that, I discuss the harmful effects of being ignorant of one’s prejudices that contribute to sustaining existing structural injustices. In the last chapter, I discuss the relationship between ignorance, responsibility, and blame. I start by giving an overview of the relationship between causation, responsibility, and blame. Then, I present Kelly Shaver’s framework for attribution of responsibility and blame. Finally, I discuss the ignorance of structural injustices by the privileged that contribute to these injustices being preserved and maintained. Using Iris Marion Young’s account of political responsibility, I hold the privileged responsible and argue that their blame should not be easily mitigated. |
| Supervisor | Passinsky, Asya |
| Department | Philosophy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/uzel_ayda.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University