Publication Date
6-26-2025
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Asian Journal of Philosophy
Volume
4
Issue
2
DOI
10.1007/s44204-025-00300-z
Abstract
In The Right to Know, Lani Watson forcefully argues in favor of recognizing epistemic rights to all humans. In this paper, we apply Watson’s framework to three hard cases. First, we consider interpersonal relationships and suggest that there is room to explore how epistemic rights bear on, e.g., whether parents can permissibly lie to or mislead their children by asserting the existence of Santa Claus. Second, we turn to social media platforms and contend that Watson’s framework is compatible with contrasting moderation policies and transparency requirements. Third, we examine a foundational case of legal ethics—the buried bodies case—which raises the question of how professional and moral duties might be weighed alongside Watson’s epistemic ones. In exploring these cases, we hope to incite practically minded philosophers to reflect upon the implications of Watson’s theory for contemporary debates in applied ethics and political philosophy.
Keywords
Attorney-client privilege, Content moderation, Epistemic rights, Lies, Social media, Transparency
Department
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Étienne Brown and Rebecca Chan. "Santa, socials, and secrets: hard cases for epistemic rights" Asian Journal of Philosophy (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44204-025-00300-z
Comments
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44204-025-00300-z