The Division of Epistemic Labour

Abstract: The paper mobilizes Adam Smith’s treatment of the division of labour in relation to the production, consumption and exchange of knowledge. One aspect of this mobilization deals with the epistemic demands that exchange makes on its participants. The other deals with increasing returns in the provision of knowledge itself, treating knowledge creation as just another example of specialization and exchange. These two aspects come together in relation to the epistemic demands associated with assessing knowledge quality. These demands differ according to whether the knowledge is embodied in products or whether the knowledge is an object for its own sake. It is argued that disciplines play a critical role as institutions for meeting the epistemic demands that the division of labour creates in the ‘knowledge’ case.

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• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: The Division of Epistemic Labour ; volume:32 ; number:2 ; year:2010 ; pages:231-246 ; extent:16 ; Analyse & Kritik ; 32, Heft 2 (2010), 231-246 (gesamt 16)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Brennan, Geoffrey

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/auk-2010-0203
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2404171625430.196700924187
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.