Simion on kk Compatibilism and Williamson’s Anti-Sceptical Insensitive Invariantism

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Abstract This discussion note surveys the main themes explored in Mona Simion’s Shifty Speech and Independent Thought: Epistemic Normativity in Context, paying particular attention to her treatment of kk compatibilism. I argue that in her attempt to establish “epistemic independence”—the disentanglement of epistemic evaluation from pragmatic considerations—Simion overemphasizes the role of context-dependence in Timothy Williamson’s work. I show that if we are to take Williamson at his word, we must appreciate the distinctive anti-sceptical insensitive invariantism at the core of his epistemology—an approach that stands in contrast to both contextualism and subject-sensitive invariantism.