Standpoint Epistemology Susan Thrasher BEF 644 Dr. Stephen Tomlinson October 2014

Standpoint Epistemology: Looking at politically informed views of social position for the sake of improving science.

Social Role and Epistemic Privilege Human activities at the foundation of society are “material practices” these are concrete interactions between humans and between humans and their environment. Power is not always equal in society. This is manifested in how people treat each other. This power is broken into classes.

The 3 identified classes are: dominant ruling class working class

Social Role and Epistemic Privileged Marx claims that a distorted view of social relationships is what keeps the ruling class in power. The working class’ cooperation in the system is necessary, because they provide the labor that drives capitalism. The working class is in a position to see social relationships both from perspective of the ruling class and perspective of the laborers who make the system work.

Feminist Appropriation of Standpoint Epistemology: Hartsock noticed an obvious parallel between gender and class relationships. Men hold the power in society. Women hold a privileged perspective. They can see things that other perspectives (men) cannot see. Women understand why the men can’t see it, making women epistemically privileged.

Generalizing Standpoints Epistemically privileged standpoint exists when social roles meet the following criteria: One role is oppressed, while the other role is dominant. The relationship between the roles are structured by needs and interests of the dominant role. The practices of the subordinate role make the activities of the dominant role possible, and these activities are largely invisible to the dominant group. (They simply take it for granted) In order to fulfill their role, those who occupy the subordinate role need to understand some domain from both the perspective of the dominant role and from their own perspective.

Knowledge and the division of labor in health care Nursing in the health care setting satisfies the 4 identified conditions needed to constitute an epistemic standpoint (Coombs, 2004). In addition, Coombs documented other area of recognized nursing expertise: Family and social situations of the patient The nurse’s continuous presence with the patient The patient’s physical environment and its management However, the physician’s knowledge was still treated as more important, and the nursing expertise was marginalized.

Nursing knowledge and nursing roles The role of the nurse in health care is oppressed and marginalized as compared wit the role of the physician. The need for nurses is largely structured by the needs of physicians. Without nursing care in all of its aspects, the treatment regimen could not be successful. Physicians do not appreciate the ways in which nursing work makes their treatments possible. Nursing creates an environment within which the physician’s treatments can be effective. Nurses need to understand the patient’s health from both the physician’s perspective and their own.

Summation The nurse’s responses are more comprehensive. Nurses know what happens to the patient after the physician has left the room (Coombs, 2004). The final ingredient of a standpoint epistemology is the political commitment to develop the knowledge available to those who occupy the marginalized role.

Works Cited Risjord, M. (2010). Standpoint epistemology and nursing knowledge. In Nursing Knowledge: Science, Practice, and Philoscopy (pp ). West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Blackland, (2010).