Future work
Many relevant questions remain. Do similar puzzles apply to other virtues such as honesty or courage? Would arguments analogous to ours help resolve those puzzles? On the puzzle of humility and disparity in particular, does the limitations-owning theory do better than other theories of humility might? More generally, how do the numerous theories of humility compare to one another concerning their success in solving this puzzle? Do contexts of epistemic disparity such as those involving flat-earthers connect to the epistemology of disagreement? Are those contexts usefully theorized as featuring extreme non-peer disagreement? Do contexts of disparity involving heinous views and social power connect to liberatory epistemology, for instance to work on epistemic injustice and white ignorance? Do our arguments about contexts of disparity apply equally to interactions with climate-deniers or dogmatic Trump-supporters? Do they tell us anything about humility and political polarization? We have yet to explore these matters.9
Notes
1 Responsibility can also extend to bystanders with privilege.
2 On courage, see Tessman (2005, 125); on self-respect, see Dillon (2015); on self-trust, see Jones (2012).
3 See Cherry (2017) on some of the difficulties involved in trying to do so.
4 Thanks to June Tangney and Robert Emmons for suggesting these ideas about seeking and accepting assistance.Also, compare Helgevold (2013, 148):“humility is not simply about restraint; it is about being disposed to hope for the right kinds of excellence (those that are actual possibilities) in the right kinds of ways (i.e., those that reflect an awareness of the influences of others).” La Guardia-Lo Bianco (2018) addresses the relationship between the ill, humility, and seeking assistance.
5 In a similar vein,Tessman advocates cultivating virtues that involve a “self-reflective understanding (and perhaps acceptance) of the limitations of the moral health of a self under oppression” (2005, 31; cf.
94), virtues that can help one recognize and come to terms with, e.g., limitations in one's capacities to survive or resist. Clearly, humility is one of these virtues.6 Grasswick (2019) addresses epistemic autonomy in the context of oppression.
7 Douglass and Phelps-Roper highlight a key point: we should not conflate humility with open-mindedness. Even when it is appropriate to manifest humility in one's interactions with in-the-wrong parties, this need not—and in many cases should not—involve an open-minded consideration of their reprehensible actions, beliefs, or sentiments. Rather, humility clears obstacles to appropriate engagement.
8 Elsewhere, Dillon says humility involves an awareness of one's moral limitations (2015, 65). She argues that, so understood, it can be a virtue, when in the service of self-respect; but if we understand it as lowliness, it is a vice.
9 For help, we thank Alex Arnold, Jamie Aten, Nathan Ballantyne, Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, David Briggs, Ryan Byerly, Michael Byram, Fabiana Cardetti, Charlie Crerar, Kim Cameron, Don Davis, Robert Emmons, Jorge Garcia, Peter Hill, Josh Hook, Frances Howard-Snyder, Peter Howard-Snyder, Rick Hoyle, Hud Hudson, Christian Lee,Tracy Llanera, Michael Lynch, Elizabeth Krumrei Mancuso, Dan McKaughan, Johann Neem, Bradley Owens, Michael Pace, Dee Payton, Sara Protasi, Wade Rowatt, Steve Sandage, Paul Shoemaker, Sandra Sirota, Barbara Stock, June Tangney, Neal Tognazzini, Kirk VanGilder, Manuela Wagner, and Ryan Wasserman, and audiences at Gallaudet University and the University of Connecticut.Work on this paper was supported by John Templeton Foundation Grant 60622, “Developing Humility In Leadership.”
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