In his book Making the Social World, John Searle gives voice to an aspiration that is very popular in social ontology. This aspiration consists in the notion that social objects can be reduced to physical objects. From this perspective, social objects are nothing more than physical objects on which we impose functions that are merely subjective and therefore external to them. Now, my paper has two objectives. In the first part, I want to show that Searle’s account entails some sort (...) of interpretationism that gets into difficulties once we reflect on his essential notion of imposition. In the second part of my paper, I want to sketch a Wittgensteinian point of view that allows us to describe our relation to social objects without being committed to the flawed model of interpretationism and to its metaphysical assumptions. (shrink)

Many intelligent, capable, and successful individuals believe that their success is due to luck and fear that they will someday be exposed as imposters. A puzzling feature of this phenomenon, commonly referred to as imposter syndrome, is that these same individuals treat evidence in ways that maintain their false beliefs and debilitating fears: they ignore and misattribute evidence of their own abilities, while readily accepting evidence in favour of their inadequacy. I propose a novel account of imposter syndrome as an (...) instance of self-deception, whereby biased evidence treatment is driven by the motivational benefit of negative self-appraisal. This account illuminates a number of interconnected philosophical and scientific puzzles related to the explanation, definition, and value of imposter syndrome. (shrink)

The Imposter Phenomenon—i.e., the phenomenon of feeling like a fraud and like your successes aren’t really yours—is typically construed not just as a crisis of confidence, but as a failure of rationality. On the standard story, “imposters” have bad beliefs about their talents because they dismiss the evidence provided by their successes. Here I suggest that this standard picture could be mistaken, and that these “imposters” may actually be more rational than non-imposters. Why? Accounting for the non-talent causes of your (...) successes may require you to lower your confidence in your talents, in which case, “imposter” beliefs are rational. I then go on to suggest a second reason to worry about the standard picture: It does not adequately address the possible role that one’s environment has in the production of the phenomenon. To give an example, I hypothesize that environments that host a “culture of genius” can alter our evidential landscape in a way that promotes the Imposter Phenomenon. Finally, I argue that my alternative picture of the Imposter Phenomenon should prompt us to opt for a conception of self-worth that is more deeply tied to virtues like intellectual humility than to relative talent possession. (shrink)

There is a widespread phenomenon that we call linguistic imposters. Linguistic imposters are systematic misuses of expressions that misusers mistake with their conventional usages because of misunderstanding their meaning. Our paper aims to provide an initial framework for theorising about linguistic imposters that will lay the foundation for future philosophical research about them. We focus on the misuses of the expressions ‘grooming’ and ‘critical race theory’ as our central examples of linguistic imposters. We show that linguistic imposters present a distinctive (...) phenomenon by comparing them to some adjacent phenomena, namely conceptual engineering, linguistic hijacking and dogwhistles. We also address four objections about the extensional adequacy of our definition of linguistic imposters. Finally, we argue that, as linguistic imposters spread, they make some inferences featuring misused expressions more cognitively accessible and seemingly socially licensed to misusers and discuss four types of harms that linguistic imposters are conducive to through these effects. (shrink)

This paper argues that trustworthiness is an epistemic virtue that promotes objectivity. I show that untrustworthy imposture can be an arrogant act of privilege that silences marginalized voices. But, as epistemologists of ignorance have shown, sometimes trickery and the betrayal of epistemic norms are important resistance strategies. This raises the question: when is betrayal of trust epistemically virtuous? After establishing that trust is central to objectivity, I argue for the following answer: a betrayal is epistemically vicious when it strengthens or (...) promotes oppressive, exclusive networks of trust, and a betrayal is epistemically virtuous when it expands trust networks to involve the oppressed. These criteria correctly account for both the epistemic vice of a recent case of Internet imposture and the epistemic virtue of resistant tricksters. (shrink)

This study examined the prevalence and impact of imposter syndrome on a sample of pre-service educators. We report a majority of pre-service educators experience IS; 93% experience moderate levels and 54% had frequent or severe levels of imposter thoughts, and further that IS was negatively associated with educator well-being. We also investigated the effects of minority group membership on experiences of IS, and found that IS was more severe for women and queer minorities, but less severe for racial minorities. Lastly, (...) we investigated the potential for healthy emotion regulation to mitigate the effects of IS on pre-service educator well-being and found that adaptive emotion regulation strategy use mitigates the effects of IS, which may provide a viable means for addressing this pervasive issue among educators, and specifically among those with minoritized identities. We discuss the implications of our findings for educational training and improving the experiences of pre-service educators. (shrink)

It is certainly true that in early modern thought the emergence of a new science changed the image of the universe in a mechanistic way. It must be considered, though, that most of the main protagonists of this revolution (Kepler, Newton, Leibniz, ‘biologists’ like Leeuwenhoek, Hartsoeker, Hooke, Malpighi, Redi, etc.) still continued to consider the importance and the utility of a finalistic explanation of natural phenomena. Concepts like “function”, “self-organization”, “organism” have roots in early modern thought: not only from a (...) linguistic and semantic point of view. They were the basis of an epistemology in which different kinds of categories are strictly related. The aim of the paper is to take into account the relevance of the mechanical explanation of natural phenomena in Leibniz’s thought and at the same time to highlight the polarization between mechanical explanations and finalistic consideration that emerges in his philosophy. The specific aim of the paper is to analyze and to develop this kind of dialectic between “teleology” and "mechanism", with particular reference to the concept of “living being”. (shrink)

Background. Imposter syndrome, associated with self-doubt and fear despite clear accomplishments and competencies, is frequently detected in medical students and has a negative impact on their well-being. This study aimed to predict the students’ IS using the machine learning ensemble approach. Methods. This study was a cross-sectional design among medical students in Bangladesh. Data were collected from February to July 2020 through snowball sampling technique across medical colleges in Bangladesh. In this study, we employed three different machine learning techniques such (...) as neural network, random forest, and ensemble learning to compare the accuracy of prediction of the IS. Results. In total, 500 students completed the questionnaire. We used the YIS scale to determine the presence of IS among medical students. The ensemble model has the highest accuracy of this predictive model, with 96.4%, while the individual accuracy of random forest and neural network is 93.5% and 96.3%, respectively. We used different performance matrices to compare the results of the models. Finally, we compared feature importance scores between neural network and random forest model. The top feature of the neural network model is Y7, and the top feature of the random forest model is Y2, which is second among the top features of the neural network model. Conclusions. Imposter syndrome is an emerging mental illness in Bangladesh and requires the immediate attention of researchers. For instance, in order to reduce the impact of IS, identifying key factors responsible for IS is an important step. Machine learning methods can be employed to identify the potential sources responsible for IS. Similarly, determining how each factor contributes to the IS condition among medical students could be a potential future direction. (shrink)

This paper looks at a constellation of three interrelated figures, the hypocrite, the imposter, and the chameleon, all of whom deceive others and at times themselves as they present themselves and are examined by others in different social settings. On closer examination, different facets of their public presentations come to light, some related to their motives, some to the expected goals of their conduct. The conduct of hypocrites overlaps with and resembles imposters insofar as they both suggest a possible nefarious (...) intentionality associated with undeserved outcomes or gains, as compared with chameleons, who seem at most to camouflage themselves in order to become undetected in their environments. The deceptive (and occasionally self-deceptive) character of the conduct of all three figures (whether understood interchangeably or not) remains of interest beyond the circles of social theorists and political pundits at least in the sense that it is condemnable as much as it is condemning, though to different degrees. (shrink)

The Author attempts to reconstruct Leibniz’s philosophy through the physiology of the processes of perception, inner sense, and general cognition, and their metaphysical implications, using both Leibniz’s published and unpublished works. The volume contains four chapters ("The Young Leibniz", "Thought Mechanisms", "The Means of Perception", "The Functions of Imagination"), and a number of hitherto unpublished texts by Leibniz.

Across several texts, Epicurus memorably and accessibly summarizes his doctrines. This study systematically analyzes Epicurus’ acts of summary, thereby closing a long-standing scholarly lacuna. To this end, a review of existing research is followed by an analysis of the terminology used in antiquity to designate philosophical and scientific compendia. The Epicurean sources are then surveyed chronologically. In two further chapters, Epicurean compendia are discussed in the broader context of ancient philosophical summaries. Their patterns of genre are illuminated not only on (...) the basis of Epicurus’ own remarks but through related texts, in which authors explain the principles undergirding their own ‘poetics of abridgement’. The concluding chapter advances an updated summary of Epicurus’ fragmentary "On Nature", interpreting his compendia not merely as sources for reconstructing the main treatise, but as texts with literary value in their own right. This monograph therefore provides the first complete presentation of Epicurean philosophical compendia, arguing for an interpretation of the rhetoric of philosophical texts while also being informed by metaliterary details afforded by other ancient sources. (shrink)

Ciò che si intende mettere in evidenza nel presente saggio è come l’assunzione di un paradigma gerarchico dell’organizzazione biologica consentirebbe di fornire una nuova formulazione del concetto di omologia e conseguentemente dell’unità dell’evoluzione. Si vedrà, infatti, come i concetti di omologia, analogia, omoplasia, convergenza e parallelismo possano essere considerati al di fuori delle opposizioni omologia vs. analogia, omogenia vs. omoplasia, parallelismo vs. convergenza. Piuttosto tali concetti si riferiscono a piani e livelli biologici che sono diversi, ma in relazione l’uno con (...) l’altro nel mondo complesso dell’evoluzione, poichè il mondo biologico è esso stesso gerarchico, ossia è organizzato in molteplici piani e livelli che coesistono senza annullarsi l’un l’altro. L’evoluzione dipende da vincoli strutturali così come dalla selezione naturale, ma anche da eventi contingenti ed imprevedibili che non sono inscritti nelle strutture e nei processi ontogenetici o nei processi di adattamento per selezione naturale anche se a questi correlati. Tale prospettiva gerarchica, che conduce a riconoscere molteplici livelli biologici, avrebbe il vantaggio epistemologico di allargare i confini del concetto di omologia e di renderlo mobile e flessibile. Questo, se, come vedremo, accade per l’omologia strutturale e quella di sviluppo, si verifica anche in relazione al comportamento. L’applicazione del concetto di omologia a vari livelli di organizzazione biologica ed il riconoscimento che l’omologia ad un livello non richiede o implica necessariamente l’omologia ad altri livelli, è estendibile anche al comportamento ed alle strutture che a questo sottostanno. Ciò che intendiamo mettere in evidenza è come l’affermazione di un paradigma gerarchico dell’organizzazione biologica non soltanto consente di rimodulare il piano dell’omologia e, dunque, dell’unità nell’evoluzione, ma in relazione a questo anche il piano di tutto ciò che è non omologo. (shrink)

This conceptual review seeks to reframe the view of academic integrity as something to be enforced to an academic skill that needs to be developed. The authors highlight how practices within academia create an environment where feelings of inadequacy thrive, leading to behaviours of unintentional academic misconduct. Importantly, this review includes practical suggestions to help educators and higher education institutions support doctoral students’ academic integrity skills. In particular, the authors highlight the importance of explicit academic integrity instruction, support for the (...) development of academic literacy skills, and changes in supervisory practices that encourage student and supervisor reflexivity. Therefore, this review argues that, through the use of these practical strategies, academia can become a space where a culture of academic integrity can flourish. (shrink)