The paradox of testimonial injustice

We claim that there appears to be something paradoxical in the phenomenon of testimonial injustice. The awareness that testimonial injustice exists in a society seems to function as pro tanto epistemic evidence that might, in turn, offer the hearer some justification for perpetrating it. Although su...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Navarro Reyes, Jesús, Medina Vizuete, Lola
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/178696
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/178696
https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqaf071
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Epistemology of testimony
Testimonial injustice
Credibility
Prejudice
Epistemic oppression
Descripción
Sumario:We claim that there appears to be something paradoxical in the phenomenon of testimonial injustice. The awareness that testimonial injustice exists in a society seems to function as pro tanto epistemic evidence that might, in turn, offer the hearer some justification for perpetrating it. Although such justification may be extremely weak and easily outweighed by other epistemic, moral, or political considerations, the evidence itself is not something the hearer could rationally dismiss. Our aim in this paper is to present this as a challenge, rather than to resolve it: to set out the argument that gives rise to this apparent paradox, to show that it follows from existing frameworks of epistemic injustice, and to underline the lack of a readily apparent solution given the resources available. We argue against biting the bullet by highlighting its problematic consequences and conclude by encouraging future research that might truly defuse this paradox.