Extended knowledge-how

Carter, J. A. and Czarnecki, B. (2016) Extended knowledge-how. Erkenntnis, 81(2), pp. 259-273. (doi: 10.1007/s10670-015-9738-x)

Abstract

According to reductive intellectualists about knowledge-how (e.g. Stanley and Williamson 2001; Stanley 2011; Brogaard 2008; 2009) knowledge-how is a kind of knowledge-that. To the extent that this is right, then insofar as we might conceive of ways knowledge could be extended with reference to active externalist (e.g. Clark and Chalmers 1998; Clark 2008) approaches in the philosophy of mind (e.g. the extended mind thesis and the hypothesis of extended cognition), we should expect no interesting difference between the two. However, insofar as anti-intellectualist approaches to knowledge-how (e.g. Ryle 1946; 1949) are a viable option, there is an overlooked issue of how knowledge-how might be extended, via active externalism, in ways very differently from knowledge-that. This paper explores this overlooked space, and in doing so, illustrates how a novel form of extended knowledge-how emerges from a pairing of active externalism in the philosophy of mind with anti-intellectualism in the theory of knowledge. Crucial to our argument will be a new way of thinking about the extended mind thesis, as it pertains to the kinds of state one is in (on an anti-intellectualist construal) when one knows how to do something, and how this state connects with non-accidentally successful performance.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This article was written as part of the AHRC-funded ‘Extended Knowledge’ (AH/J011908/1) research project that is hosted by the University of Edinburgh’s Eidyn research centre. Bolesław Czarnecki’s research was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Mobility Plus III research grant (1112/MOB/2013/0).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Carter, Professor J Adam
• Authors: Carter, J. A., and Czarnecki, B.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Philosophy
• Journal Name: Erkenntnis
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0165-0106
• ISSN (Online): 1572-8420
• Published Online: 14 June 2015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Springer Science+Business Media
• First Published: First published in Erkenntnis 81(2): 259-273
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy