Experiential Knowledge and Expertise (030081-WiSe22/23)

Many people have the intuition that undergoing a particular experience may lead to unique and important insights. This intuition has important ramifications for several societal domains including mental health care. For instance, it suggests that someone who has experienced depression has unique and important insights into depression. In this seminar we will draw on philosophical research to critically evaluate this intuition and its ramifications. In particular we will investigate three main components associated with this trend: Experience, Knowledge and Expertise. Questions to be addressed include: what sort of knowledge (if any) can be derived from particular experiences? How does this knowledge relate to other forms of knowledge, e.g. scientific knowledge? What elements of experience (e.g. its phenomenality) form the basis for such knowledge? What are the characteristics of the kind of expertise that is presupposed in recent mental health care developments?