This
course philosophically discusses knowledge management in organisations and
institutions from the perspective of the theories of mind and knowledge, in
particular distributed cognition and virtue & vice epistemology. Starting
from a dynamical account of the social dimension of knowledge production, it
investigates the role played by the epistemic agents and their interactions in
the management of knowledge. A specific focus on the character traits of the
agents, in the entanglement with their affective dispositions, is pursued
discussing the issues of dehumanisation/emotional labor in organisations.

In
week 1, we will introduce the theoretical framework of distributed cognition
with the extended mind hypothesis for understanding the social dimension of
knowledge production. This will be the ground for discussing the role of
leadership and cooperation in knowledge management in week 2. In week 3, we
will analyse knowledge management from the perspective of situated affectivity,
mainly discussing the issue of depersonalisation in organisations.

In
weeks 4 and 5, we will introduce the conceptual tools of virtue & vice
epistemology for discussing cases and issues about the role of specific
character traits in knowledge management. In week 4, we will analyse practical
wisdom and intellectual virtues in the Aristotelian framework of contemporary
business ethics. In week 5, we will discuss malevolence, insouciance, arrogance, and injustice
within the framework of vice epistemology in organisations.