This dissertation, titled Prelude to an Epistemology of Belonging, investigates a nascent yet undercharacterized trajectory within social epistemology—what might be called an “epistemology of belonging.” It is composed of an introduction, four research articles, and a conclusion, forming a cohesive yet pluralistic exploration of how epistemic community membership influences belief formation, justification, and intellectual responsibility. Rather than constructing a novel theoretical framework, the dissertation diagnoses this emerging trend in the literature and offers conceptual resources to better articulate and characterize its contours. It argues that questions of epistemic trust, testimony, and rationality are increasingly intertwined with questions of relational positioning and communal affiliation—questions about where and with whom one epistemically belongs.
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