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Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide

Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide

Don Fallis
Copyright: © 2007 |Pages: 18
ISBN13: 9781591409687|ISBN10: 1591409683|ISBN13 Softcover: 9781591409694|EISBN13: 9781591409700
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-968-7.ch002
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MLA

Fallis, Don. "Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide." Information Technology and Social Justice, edited by Emma Rooksby and John Weckert, IGI Global, 2007, pp. 29-46. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-968-7.ch002

APA

Fallis, D. (2007). Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide. In E. Rooksby & J. Weckert (Eds.), Information Technology and Social Justice (pp. 29-46). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-968-7.ch002

Chicago

Fallis, Don. "Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide." In Information Technology and Social Justice, edited by Emma Rooksby and John Weckert, 29-46. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2007. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-968-7.ch002

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Abstract

The digital divide refers to inequalities in access to information technology. Those people who do not have access to information technology are at a significant economic and social disadvantage. As with any other policy decision, in order to evaluate policies for dealing with the digital divide, we need to know exactly what our goal should be. Since the principal value of access to information technology is that it leads to knowledge, work in epistemology can help us to clarify our goal in the context of the digital divide. In this paper, I argue that epistemic value theory can help us to determine which distribution of knowledge to aim for. Epistemic value theory cannot specify a particular distribution to aim for, but it can significantly narrow down the range of possibilities. Additionally, I indicate how the exercise of applying epistemic value theory to the case of the digital divide furthers work in epistemology.

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