Klemens Kappel

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My main area of research is social epistemology, which covers questions concerning how knowledge, justified belief, or evidence for beliefs may be generated in or depend on social context. Generally, what we know depend on social contexts in various ways, say because what we know is transmitted from others, or because evidence or justification is generated in way that depend on certain forms of collaboration. What kind of social settings are conducive to the production or dissemination of knowledge, justified belief or evidence? Knowledge and true belief is often said to be promoted by exchange of reasons and arguments, but why is that so, and under what conditions? Diversity is often though to promote the prodution of knowledge in groups, but why and which forms of diversity have these effects? Can groups, organisations or corporates have knowlegde or justified belief, or is this strictly speaking reserved to individuals? How should we rationally react when we discover that we disagree with others, in particular others we thought to be as competent as ourselves? Does it make a difference whether I disagree with one other individual or with 10.000 others? And what is the role of consensus - suppose I not only disagree with some, but also agree with many? Why is consensus among experts important (if it is)? When is dissensus important, and when is it malignant? What should we think about the various forms of biases that affect our detection and uptake of evidence (in particular various forms of confirmation biases). 

Some of the questions I work with overlap with political philosophy: Does science and scientific knowledge have a priviledge status in democratic decision-making? How should are legitimate decisions to be made in cases where we face incalcitrant disagreements about the facts? What role can religious reason have in public reason? What role should scientific reasons have? How should freedom of speech be motivated?  

I direct the research group SERG, focusing on these questions, and I am head of the research project Convergent ethics and ethics of controversy (CEEC).

I also have some interest in general questions in political philosophy and bioethics, and have recently published on moral compromises in politics and on consent based on trust in medical contexts. 

In addition, I am interested in general questions in epistemology about reliabilism, epistemic consequentialism, the Gettier problem, the generality problem, epistemic relativism and meta-epistemoology (the nature of attributions of knowledge). 

Teaching

I teach and supervise primarily in epistemology, social epsitemology, political philosophy, and bioethics. I have extensive experience with supervising BA and MA theses in many areas in contemporary anglophone philosophy. If you consider writing a BA or MA thesis with me, please do not hesitate to contact me on kappel@hum.ku.dk

Selected publications

1. Published

   Bottom Up justification, asymmetric epistemic push, and the fragility of higher order justification

   Kappel, Klemens, 1 Jun 2019, In: Episteme. 16, 2, p. 119-138 20 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

2. Published

   Does controversial science call for public participation? The case of GM skepticism

   Christiansen, Andreas, Jønch-Clausen, K. & Kappel, Klemens, 9 Dec 2017, In: Les Ateliers de l’éthique. 12, 1, p. 26-50 25 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

3. Published

   Accelerating the domestication of new crops: feasibility and approaches

   Østerberg, J. T., Xiang, W., Olsen, L. I., Edenbrandt, A. K., Vedel, S. E., Christiansen, Andreas, Landes, X., Andersen, M. M., Pagh-Rasmussen, Peter, Sandøe, Peter, Nielsen, J., Christensen, Søren Brøgger, Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark, Kappel, Klemens, Gamborg, Christian & Palmgren, Michael, 2017, In: Trends in Plant Science. 22, 5, p. 373-384 12 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4. Published

   Dissent: Good, Bad, and Reasonable

   Kappel, Klemens, 2018, Voicing Dissent: The Ethics and Epistemology of Making Disagreement Public. Johnson, C. R. (ed.). New York: Routledge, p. 61-81 21 p. (Routledge studies in contemporary philosophy).

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

5. Published

   Is consent based on trust morally inferior to consent based on information?

   Kongsholm, Nana Cecilie Halmsted & Kappel, Klemens, 2017, In: Bioethics. 31, 6, p. 432-442 11 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

6. Published

   The epistemic role of science and expertise in liberal democracy

   Kappel, Klemens & Zahle, J., 2021, Routledge Handbook of Social Epistemology. Graham, P., Fricker, M., Henderson, D. & Pedersen, N. J. L. L. (eds.). Routledge, p. 397-405

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

7. Published

   Scientific Facts and Methods in Public Reason

   Jønch-Clausen, K. & Kappel, Klemens, May 2016, In: Res Publica. 22, 2, p. 117-133 17 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

8. Published

   Complementary/Alternative Medicine and the Evidence Requirement

   Hansen, K. & Kappel, Klemens, 2016, The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine. Solomon, M., Simon, J. R. & Kincaid, H. (eds.). New York: Routledge, p. 257-267 11 p. (Routledge Philosophy Companions).

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

9. Published

   Epistemic Expressivism and the Argument from Motivation

   Kappel, Klemens & Møller, E. F. L., May 2014, In: Synthese. 191, 7, p. 1529-1547 19 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

10. Published

    Believing on Trust

    Kappel, Klemens, 2014, In: Synthese - An international journal for epistemology, methodology and philosophy of science. 191, 9, p. 2009-2028 20 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review