Frost-Arnold

Karen Frost-ArnoldProfessor of Philosophy

Joined faculty in 2009

Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Ph.D., 2008
Wellesley College, B.A. with Honors in Philosophy and Biology, 1999

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Contact Information

Delancey HousePhone (315) 781-4521

Scholarly Interest

  • Trust
  • Social epistemology
  • Philosophy of the Internet
  • Ethics
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Feminist Philosophy

Courses Taught

Trust and Betrayal
Introduction to Philosophy
Philosophy & Contemporary Issues: Philosophy & Feminism
Ethics of Civic Engagement
Feminism: Ethics & Knowledge
Experiencing & Knowing
Power, Privilege, & Knowledge
Introduction to Women's Studies

Publications

Book:
Who Should We Be Online? A Social Epistemology for the Internet (Forthcoming).  New York: Oxford University Press.

Articles & Chapters:

  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2021). “The Epistemic Dangers of Context Collapse Online.” In Applied Epistemology, (ed.) J. Lackey. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2020). “Trust and Epistemic Responsibility.” In The Routledge Handbook of Trust, (ed.) J. Simon. New York: Routledge.
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2018). "Wikipedia." In The Routledge Handbook of Applied Epistemology, (eds.) D. Coady & J. Chase. New York: Routledge.
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2016). "Social Media, Trust, and the Epistemology of Prejudice." Social Epistemology, 30(5-6): 513-531. (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2016.1213326)
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2015). “Epistemologies of Ignorance as Foundation for Service-Learning." In Service-Learning and Civic Engagement: A Sourcebook, (eds.) B. Delano-Oriaran, M. Penick-Parks, & S. Fondrie. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2014). “Imposters, Tricksters, & Trustworthiness as an Epistemic Virtue.” Hypatia, 29(4): 790-807. (DOI: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hypa.12107/abstract).
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2014). “Trustworthiness and Truth: The Epistemic Pitfalls of Internet Accountability.” Episteme, 11 (1): 63-81. (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/epi.2013.43).
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2014). "The Cognitive Attitude of Rational Trust." Synthese, 191 (9): 1957-1974. (DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-012-0151-6 ).
  • Frost-Arnold, K. (2013). "Moral Trust & Scientific Collaboration." Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 44 (3): 301–310. (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2013.04.002).



Book Reviews:
“Willful Ignorance” (2016). Metascience 25(2):323-326. (DOI: 10.1007/s11016-016-0068-7)


Presentations:

  • "Against Nostalgia for Public Trust" Invited talk at Trust in Information workshop at the High-Performance Computing Center (HLRS) Stuttgart Germany, April 2022.
  • "Echo Chambers, Trust, and Epistemic Agency" Invited talk at University of Innsbruck, December 2021.
  • "Echo Chambers, Trust, and Epistemic Agency" Invited virtual keynote at Epistemology of the Internet Conference by African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at University of Johannesburg, November 2021.
  • "Epistemic Trash and Toxic Content" Invited virtual keynote at Beyond Fake News: Mitigating the Spread of Epistemically Toxic Content Workshop by Zefat Academic College and University of Haifa, April 2021.
  • "Epistemic Injustice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited virtual talk at the University of Cincinnati, October, 2020.
  • "Epistemically and Ethically Responsible Methodologies for Social Epistemology of the Internet" virtual talk at the Social (Distance) Epistemology Series, April 2020.
  • "Epistemic Injustice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited keynote at Knowledge in a Digital World: Epistemic Injustice, Bias, and other Challenges in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Canadian Society for Epistemology, Montreal, November 2019.
  • "Epistemic Injustice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited keynote at Living Together Online: Social Epistemology, Ethics, and the Internet, The Bodaken Philosophy Symposium, Colorado State University, October 2019.
  • "Epistemic Justice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited talk at University of Connecticut, March 2019.
  • "Bias and Exploitation in Online Content Moderation"  HWS Theatre Frame/Works talk, March 2019.
  • "Epistemic Justice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited talk at SUNY Buffalo, February 2019.
  • "Epistemic Justice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Minds of Our Own Conference, MIT, November 2018.
  • "Epistemic Justice and the Challenges of Online Moderation" Invited talk at Le Moyne College, November 2018.
  • "Fake News, Objectivity, and White Ignorance:  Lessons from Social Epistemology" Invited talk at University of Calgary, September 2018.
  • "Fake News, Objectivity, and White Ignorance:  Lessons from Social Epistemology" Invited keynote at Fake Knowledge conference, University of Cologne, June 2018.
  • "Against (and beyond) Neutrality in Moderation" at the All Things in Moderation Conference, UCLA, December 2017.
  • "Fake News, Trust, and White Ignorance: Lessons from Social Epistemology" Invited talk at Cornell University, November 2017.
  • "How an Epistemology of Ignorance Maintains Wikipedia's Gender Gap" at the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR) Annual Meeting, Tartu, October 2017.
  • "The Epistemic Virtues and Vices of Online Lurking" at the International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP) Annual Meeting, Stanford, June 2017.
  • "The Epistemic Dangers of Context Collapse Online" at the Penn-Rutgers-Princeton Social Epistemology Workshop, Philadelphia, April 2017.
  • Commentary on Heidi Grasswick's "Science and the Challenge of Epistemic Trustworthiness: A Situated Approach" at the Pacific APA, Seattle, April 2017.
  • “To Lurk or Not to Lurk? Epistemically Trustworthy Habits for Unlearning Ignorance” Invited symposium talk at Eastern American Philosophical Association Meeting, Baltimore, January 2017.
  • “To Lurk or Not to Lurk? A Feminist Philosophy for the Internet” lecture at the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies program, University of Pittsburgh, January 2017.
  • "Lurking, Ignorance, & Ontological Expansiveness: A Virtue Epistemology for the Internet" Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies (FEMMSS6), Notre Dame, October 2016.
  • “Strategies for Dealing with Online Harassment” Invited panel presentation at Eastern American Philosophical Association Meeting, Washington, DC, January 2016.
  • With Carly Petroski & Marjorie Doris-Pierce "Silencing the Silencers: The Ethics of Feminist Trolling to Combat Online Hate Speech" Association for Feminist Ethics and Social Theory (FEAST), Clearwater Beach, October 2015.
  • "The Matthew Effect and Trustworthiness in Research Teams" 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Helsinki, August 2015.
  • “Trust and the Epistemology of Trolling” Invited lecture at the Sawyer Seminar on the Nature of Trust, Northwestern University, May 2015.
  • “Trust Accountability and Online Anonymity” Invited keynote address at the Rochester Institute of Technology Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy, May 2015.
  • "Trust, Activism, and Social Media" Invited public lecture at Women's Rights National Historical Park, Seneca Falls, NY, September 2014.
  • “Thirty Years of Computer Ethics, Going Forward” Invited panel presentation at Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) 2014 Conference, Les Cordeliers, Paris, June 2014.
  • “Virtual Trust and Ignorance: Using Social Media to Challenge Privilege and Prejudice” Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) 2014 Conference, Les Cordeliers, Paris, June 2014.
  • "Social Media, Trust, and the Epistemology of Prejudice" SUNY Albany, February 2014.
  • "Can Social Media Combat Prejudice? Challenging Ignorance through Trust" Shimer College, January 2014.
  • "Social Media, Trust, and the Epistemology of Prejudice" Northwestern University, January 2014.
  • "Objectivity and Trustworthy Scientific Practice" Western New York Philosophy of Science Circle, August 2013.
  • “Imposters, Evil Deceivers, & Trustworthiness as an Epistemic Virtue” Society for Analytical Feminism (SAF) Conference, Vanderbilt University, 2012.
  • “Imposters and the Epistemology of Trust” Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics and Science Studies (FEMMSS) Conference, Pennsylvania State University, 2012.
  • “Rational Trust, Belief, and Acceptance” Orange Beach Epistemology Workshop, Orange Beach, AL 2012.
  • “Objectivity, Ignorance, and Trustworthiness” Objectivity in Science Conference, Vancouver, 2010.
  • “The Manipulation of Science by Special Interest Groups: Lessons from Feminist Epistemology” Invited lecture at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 2009.
  • “Finding the Future of Feminist Epistemology in the Legacy of Feminist Ethics” Feminist Legacies/ Feminist Futures Hypatia 25th Anniversary Conference, Seattle, 2009.
  • "Trust, Fraud, and the Social Epistemology of Science" Australasian Association of the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science, Brisbane, 2009.
  • "The Epistemic Value of Trust in the Drosophilist Community" International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Brisbane, 2009.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

My research focuses on the epistemology and ethics of trust.  In my research and teaching I ask the following questions:  What is trust?  What is the role of trust in knowledge, science, and the internet?  How can I be a responsible & trustworthy knower in a world of power and privilege?  Why have feminist philosophers found trust to be a particularly useful concept?  How can I be trustworthy in my personal life, professional life, leadership role, and civic life?  What is betrayal?  How is trust betrayed and manipulated by individuals and institutions?