An epistemic vice is a character trait or habitual disposition that systematically impairs a person's capacity for knowledge acquisition, evaluation, and sharing. The parameters that define an epistemic vice are: (1) it is a stable disposition rather than a one-off error, (2) it operates at the epistemic level by distorting belief formation, evidence evaluation, or testimonial exchange, and (3) it is normatively evaluable as a defect in cognitive agency rather than merely a performance failure. Epistemic vices persist through habitual reinforcement, social transmission, and the self-reinforcing nature of cognitive blind spots. [formal: vitium-epistemicum | substrate: behavior | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
epistemic-vice
An epistemic vice is a character trait or habitual disposition that systematically impairs a person's capacity for knowledge acquisition, evaluation, and sharing. The parameters that define an epistemic vice are: (1) it is a stable disposi…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made categorization of character traits and cognitive habits — such as closed-mindedness, intellectual arrogance, wishful thinking, and prejudice — that systematically impede the acquisition, retention, or transmission of knowledge. Filed as a construct of moral epistemology, distinct from the natural cognitive errors the brain makes.
Names and aliases
- epistemic-viceen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrvcke1b00qi2ceishnbt88yDEPENDS_ON →
Removal test: an epistemic vice (closed-mindedness, intellectual dishonesty, etc.) only operates as a violation within an epistemic framework that establishes epistemic norms. Remove the epistemic frame and the vice ceases to function as a vice — there are no standards to violate. This is constitutive, not sayability.
- cmrotvfz705jkd1nldwdfp2i4INSTANCE_OF →
An epistemic vice (closed-mindedness, intellectual dishonesty, confirmation bias) IS a specific kind of bias — namely one that impairs knowledge-seeking and evaluation. A competent speaker would call it 'a bias' (specifically, an epistemic one). Nearest kind: bias.
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Record identity
- Created
- Jul 22, 2026, 1:06 AM UTC
- Content hash
- c2f8b584926f2ec10abea0785a28f63177b9e002251bd8c9e7c5492c998060f4