01
Choose one
1 point
A friend tells you both that they plan to visit tomorrow and that a medical symptom is harmless. Which response best reflects responsible trust in testimony?
Free Practice Quiz Question List
9 Social Epistemology Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 9 Social Epistemology, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
20 questions
02
Choose one
1 point
An astronomer makes a confident claim about the effects of a particular diet. What is the most relevant reason not to treat the astronomer's expertise alone as sufficient support?
- A
The person's authority applies because expertise in any scientific field transfers to all scientific topics.
- B
The claim should be accepted if the person speaks confidently and has a long professional history.
- C
The person's background in astronomy does not by itself establish authority on nutrition.
- D
The claim should be accepted if the person has published research, regardless of its subject.
03
Choose one
1 point
Two people have relevantly similar evidence and are about equally likely to reach the correct answer. One learns that the other reached a contrary judgment. What response best represents conciliationism?
- A
They should normally reconsider their confidence after learning of the peer's contrary judgment.
- B
They should always keep their original confidence because they reached their own judgment first.
- C
They should accept the peer's answer without considering either person's evidence.
- D
They should disregard the disagreement unless the peer has more experience in every area.
04
Choose one
1 point
A person struggles to explain a harmful experience because their community lacks widely recognized concepts for naming it. Which concept best describes this situation?
- A
Testimonial injustice, because the listener has not independently verified every detail.
- B
Epistemic dependence, because the person relies on others for information.
- C
Conciliationism, because other people may disagree about what happened.
- D
Hermeneutical injustice, because shared concepts for naming the experience are unavailable or unrecognized.
05
Choose all
1 point
Which considerations are relevant when assessing whether someone is a trustworthy expert on a particular topic? Select all that apply.
- A
Whether the person's training and experience are relevant to the specific topic.
- B
Whether the person has high status in an unrelated field.
- C
Whether the person's evidence and methods are of good quality.
- D
Whether qualified specialists broadly support the conclusion.
06
Choose all
1 point
Which practices can help make a community's treatment of people as knowers more just? Select all that apply.
- A
Listen without making credibility judgments based on prejudice.
- B
Take people's knowledge grounded in their situations seriously.
- C
Assume that a person's account is unreliable whenever it challenges a familiar view.
- D
Improve shared concepts and procedures used to interpret people's experiences.
07
True or false
1 point
True or false: Social epistemology treats knowledge as something shaped only by an individual's own reasoning, not by social relationships or institutions.
- A
True
- B
False
08
True or false
1 point
True or false: Broad agreement among qualified specialists guarantees that their conclusion is correct.
- A
True
- B
False
09
Written response
1 point
What philosophical term names relying on other people's knowledge while lacking the resources to verify every detail independently?
10
Written response
1 point
What term refers to information conveyed by another person's assertion or report?
11
Fill in the blank
1 point
People with relevantly similar evidence who are about equally likely to reach the correct answer are called .
12
Fill in the blank
1 point
When gaps in shared interpretive resources make it unfairly difficult for people to understand or communicate important experiences, this is called .
13
Open ended
1 point
A patient cannot independently reproduce the investigations behind a clinician's diagnosis. Explain how the patient could responsibly assess whether to rely on the diagnosis, and why agreement among specialists should matter without being treated as a guarantee.
14
Choose one
1 point
A patient accurately describes symptoms, but a listener dismisses the account because of a stereotype about the patient's identity. What makes this a case of testimonial injustice?
- A
Prejudice leads a listener to give the patient less credibility than the report merits.
- B
The patient relies on medical knowledge they cannot verify independently.
- C
The patient and clinician have different judgments despite being epistemic peers.
- D
The community lacks a shared concept for describing the patient's symptoms.
15
True or false
1 point
True or false: According to non-reductionists, a hearer may reasonably accept someone's testimony unless there is a specific reason for doubt.
- A
True
- B
False
16
Written response
1 point
What term describes relying on a specialist’s knowledge when you lack the resources to verify every detail yourself?
17
Choose one
1 point
A friend tells you their weekend plans and also offers a medical diagnosis. Which response best reflects responsible trust in testimony?
- A
Trust the friend equally on both topics because reliability in one area transfers to another.
- B
Treat the friend as a potentially good source about their own plans, but seek relevant medical expertise about a diagnosis.
- C
Reject both claims unless the friend provides independent proof for every detail.
- D
Accept both claims unless you already know they are false.
18
Choose one
1 point
A hearer checks a source’s track record and relevant evidence before relying on its report. Which view of testimony does this approach illustrate?
- A
Accept the report unless a specific reason for doubt arises.
- B
Give the report as much weight as the hearer’s own judgment.
- C
Seek independent reasons to regard the speaker or report as reliable.
- D
Accept the report whenever the speaker sounds confident.
19
Written response
1 point
What is the term for a wrong in which prejudice causes a hearer to give someone less credibility than their testimony merits?
20
Choose one
1 point
Which situation best illustrates hermeneutical injustice?
- A
Someone struggles to explain a harmful experience because the concepts needed to name it are not widely available or recognized.
- B
A hearer discounts an accurate report because of a stereotype about the speaker’s identity.
- C
A specialist relies on evidence that other specialists cannot reproduce.
- D
Two equally informed people reach different conclusions about a question.