Kingwell’s book, “Question Authority,” analyzes modern society’s “addiction to conviction” and provides directions for restoring trust in institutions.
Alex Geldzahler
Contributing Reporter
Courtesy of Ashley Van Elswyk
Mark Kingwell GRD ’89 GRD ’91, an author and current professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, has recently published a new book about the crisis of authority in the 21st century.
His book, “Question Authority: A Polemic About Trust in Five Meditations,” examines how a growing distrust towards institutions such as politics, academia, science and more. Drawing on his personal life and his background as an academic, Kingwell approaches the status quo of societal authority. Taking a new look at the ’60s slogan “Question Authority,” the book is an investigation on how American trust has been eroded in recent decades.
“People are losing any sense that there are presumptive validities in institutions that they, in an earlier moment, were inclined to trust. So everything’s up in the air,” Kingwell said in an interview with the News.
“Question Authority,” slated to release on Feb. 11, is the latest of Kingwell’s books. His previous books apply philosophical perspectives to topics ranging from baseball to boredom.
Kingwell aims to identify how individuals can practice dogmatic faith in certain institutions, while blatantly rejecting other societal tenets. After the pandemic, he explains, the world entered a “COVID hangover,” leaving many to question their prior notions of trustworthiness.
“It’s why we let other people fly the plane or run the institution. There has to be a balance between that desire for autonomy and a kind of epistemic humility. Liberal institutions gave us the best version of that balance between autonomy and humility,” said Kingwell.
Approaching the tricky question of when to trust and when to remain skeptical, Kingwell draws on his philosophical background to reflect on five meditations, drawing on metalogical arguments and his own experiences.
To readers who remain doubtful of societal institutions, Kingwell suggests an approach titled “compassionate skepticism,” which highlights the importance of rational thinking, as opposed to entirely disregarding a certain institution.
“Sometimes you don’t know, and you think you know, and believing that you do when you don’t can lead to disaster,” said Kingwell.
Kingwell described his time at Yale as one of “intellectual excitement.” Studying in the 1980s and 90s, he said that he engaged with new philosophical thought under the instruction of Bruce Ackerman LAW ’67 and Steven B. Smith.
As Kingwell explained, these crises of faith are by no means new to human society. He outlined the precedent for a complete debasement of faith in fundamental tenets of society, going as far back as Socrates.
According to Smith, who studied with Kingwell, institutions, such as the government, must show that they are “worthy” of trust.
“This probably means promising less but performing better,” said Smith. “People’s confidence needs to be restored in the efficiency of their government to achieve basic tasks.”
Both Kingwell and Smith attested to the potential for new technology and developments to shake up our confidence in the world, including the rise of artificial intelligence.
But, Kingwell expressed optimism for a revival of public trust. As he explains in his books, there are certain steps for a reader to take, ranging from the small and pragmatic to larger societal messages.
“I would encourage people to become all the more informed and curious about how we got to the situation in which we find ourselves, and then determine with others by thinking out loud together what we might do next,” said professor Randy Boyagoda, a professor of English at the University of Toronto and colleague of Kingwell.
“Question Authority” will be available on Feb. 11.
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