NEW WORDS FOR OLD WRONGS. (25th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maitra, Ishani
• Editors: Lackey, Jennifer
• Is Part Of: Episteme. Volume 15:Number 3(2018)
• Page Start: 345
• Page End: 362
• Publication Date: 2018-06-25
• Subjects: Social epistemology -- Periodicals; 121
• DOI: 10.1017/epi.2018.27
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-3600

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper begins with the idea that there are sometimes gaps in our shared linguistic/conceptual resources that make it difficult for us to understand our own social experiences, and to make them intelligible to others. In this paper, I focus on three cases of this sort, some of which are drawn from the literature on hermeneutical injustice. I offer a diagnosis of what the gaps in these cases consist in, and what it takes to fill them. I argue that these gaps are filled in, at least initially, by labels of a particular kind. Specifically, these are labels that allow us to see the experiences in question as novel instances of phenomena with which we are already normatively familiar. Further, I also show that these labels bring with them important downsides: they introduce distortions into our understandings of these experiences. Using a pair of case studies ('statutory rape, ' 'sexual harassment'), I illustrate these distortions.