ABSTRACT
Are closed-mindedness and arrogance the same thing? Or, are they different things that are usually found together but sometimes come apart? Here, I propose analyses of closed-mindedness and arrogance that allow them to come apart, while also explaining why they are so often found together. Section 1 identifies closed-mindedness with being unwilling to engage seriously with intellectual options or unwilling to revise one’s beliefs. Section 2 identifies arrogance with under-owning one’s cognitive shortcomings and over-owning one’s cognitive strengths. Section 3 focuses on a subset of cases in which closed-mindedness and arrogance come apart. Examples include academics who engage with flat-earthers, and activists who engage with white supremacists, while being unwilling to revise their own beliefs that the earth is round and that people are people. The final section explains why we should nevertheless expect closed-mindedness and arrogance to be found together.
