The Epistemic Benefits of Social Justice

Abstract

Abstract This chapter argues that questions of social justice have an epistemic dimension: societies marred by high levels of inequality are more likely to lack the trust that is needed for successful epistemic processes in the democratic realm. They are more likely to be polarized and to let epistemic institutions decline for lack of public support. The chapter also discusses the nexus with a social sphere that has, arguably, a particularly strong influence on social trust: the workplace. More egalitarian and more participative social practices, in which individuals encounter each other at eye level and can develop bonds of trust with each other, have a greater likelihood of enabling individuals to “live in truth,” which is such a crucial precondition for democracy.