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Embodied Irrationality? Knowledge Avoidance, Willful Ignorance, and the Paradox of Autonomy
Selene Arfini1, Lorenzo Magnani1
1Computational Philosophy Laboratory, Philosophy Section, Department of Humanities, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 13, 2021
Summary
Knowledge avoidance and willful ignorance are distinct cognitive phenomena. While willful ignorance is irrational, knowledge avoidance can be epistemically rational, especially when it increases autonomy and hope.
Area of Science:
- Epistemology
- Cognitive Science
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- Knowledge avoidance and willful ignorance are often conflated in philosophical and psychological literature.
- Both phenomena are typically associated with irrational reasoning patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To distinguish between knowledge avoidance and willful ignorance.
- To analyze their positions on the epistemic rationality-irrationality spectrum.
- To propose definitions from an epistemological and embodied perspective.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis using epistemological and embodied perspectives.
- Examination of irrational reasoning patterns (wishful thinking, self-deception, akrasia).
- Analysis of the impact of epistemic feelings and agent autonomy.
Main Results:
- Willful ignorance is linked to irrational reasoning and beliefs.
- Knowledge avoidance can be epistemically rational under specific conditions.
- Awareness of information avoidance and its emotional triggers supports rational knowledge avoidance.
Conclusions:
- Knowledge avoidance and willful ignorance are distinct concepts.
- Knowledge avoidance can be a rational, autonomy-enhancing strategy when agents are aware of their choices.
- This rational knowledge avoidance is dependent on hope and informed decision-making.
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