Social Metaphysics, Situated Knowledge and Democracy

At the core of this thesis is an argument for the view that we should consider situated knowledge - the species of special knowledge that epistemic agents have in virtue of their social position - as consisting as knowledge-how, rather than propositional knowledge. However, this thesis does not consist of this argument alone. Methodologically, I am committed to the view that any social epistemology should be supported by social metaphysics. As such, any view that talks about knowledge conferred to agents on the grounds of being a member of a certain social group should be supported by a metaphysical view of what it means to be a member of that group. I have a further methodological commitment that social epistemology should support political philosophy. Due to this the latter section of this thesis is dedicated to exploring one application of my epistemology and metaphysics. I give a political argument following my epistemological argument, arguing for the position that my view provides an argument for supporting deliberative democratic practices, rather than supporting epistocratic regimes - regimes in which those with insufficient political knowledge are disenfranchised. This latter argument provides an example of how my methodology, metaphysics, and epistemology can be combined to provide fruitful applications in other areas of philosophy