3.12 An ecology of knowledge and epistemic justice

The ecology of knowledge recognizes the diversity of mechanisms of knowledge production all while clearly indicating the performative differences between the different types of knowledge produced. Peirce outlines four modes of belief fixation : tenacity (believing in what we believe); authority (knowledge imposed by an authority); the a priori method (knowledge that is pleasing or comfortable); and the scientific method (which allows for agreement between scientists).

Of these four modes, Peirce prioritizes the scientific process of thought pattern fixation. Why ? Science represents the most appropriate method of generating knowledge because it is continuously subject to doubt and is therefore a perpetual quest for truth.

The ecology of knowledge accounts for this environment that is littered with more or less simple mechanisms, and more or less complex ones, that generate knowledge ; an environment that includes the whole population, organizations and institutions and sees them entering into more or less validating or demeaning relationships.

Peirce does not really discuss power struggles unless it is to relate them to a mode of production and of knowledge management. However, Dewey extends the Peircean epistemology by discussing the place of politics in the knowledge production process, a process associated with investigative work requiring the participation of all stakeholders concerned with the resolution of a problem.

Participative democracy thus becomes a sine qua non condition of the investigative process. For Peirce and Dewey, such a process relies on the use of the scientific method in their investigative method, which demands that we be pervious to the global vision of stakeholders. Stakeholders are called upon to participate in the process of increasing knowledge, that’s to say, to socially resolving problems with a social component. This participation is as key as defining the problem is to the investigation. The more this definition is inclusive and respectful of views, opinions, and knowledge… the wider the scope of the problem will be covered, and the more it can be open to a conceptualization that includes actions leading to solutions.

The pragmatism presented by the work of Peirce and Dewey goes beyond the intersection of knowledge ; it opens the door to an intersection of practices and a collective governance of the process. Participative democracy falls within the scientific approach and can be added to the toolbox.