ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature and characteristic psychology of epistemic guidance. Epistemic guidance is a conceptualized as a tendency to aid others in making good decisions in inquiry. The epistemic guide is someone with broad knowledge of the dynamics of inquiry and decision-points in inquiry. They pay attention to the dynamics of others’ inquiries, and they are good at helping others to understand the risks and benefits associated with making different decisions in their inquiries. The chapter compares epistemic guidance so understood to the virtue of intellectual practical wisdom, and contrasts it with opposing traits such as vicious epistemic paternalism, the need for closure, and intolerance for ambiguity. By doing so it brings out the distinctive features of epistemic guidance and highlights its role in the life of the intellectually dependable person.
