Call for Papers:

Epistemic Agency in the Age of AI
A Synthese Topical Collection
https://link.springer.com/collections/bdbfcggfha

Guest Editors: Stefan Buijsman (TU Delft), Markus Pantsar (RWTH Aachen), Giorgia Pozzi (TU Delft)

Deadline for submissions: February 1, 2026

The use of opaque AI systems complicates our epistemic agency, broadly understood as the ability to form and revise beliefs, share information and knowledge, and be perceived as knowers by other epistemic agents. On the one hand, these systems seem to provide justifications for beliefs and aid in scientific practice. Novel developments in the context of LLMs mimicking reasoning abilities also open up questions about the nature of human cognition, epistemic abilities, and decision-making. On the other hand, AI systems may limit our epistemic agency through new social and political dynamics. Human-AI interactions can reduce our autonomy and complicate doxastic responsibility. AI systems may also entrench categories and limit the search or acceptance of alternative sources of evidence, leading to epistemic injustice and issues in social epistemology. Overall, the aim of this special issue is to bring together different perspectives on central questions related to epistemic agency in AI-mediated environments from different philosophical fields, such as but not limited to (social) epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind.

Appropriate Topics for Submission include, among others:

• Justification of AI systems’ outputs
• Agency and autonomy
• AI reasoning
• AI and scientific practice
• AI and scientific understanding
• AI and epistemic injustice
• AI and doxastic responsibility

For further information, please contact the guest editors:

• Stefan Buijsman, S.N.R.Buijsman@tudelft.nl
• Markus Pantsar, markus.pantsar@humtec.rtwh-aachen.de
• Giorgia Pozzi, g.pozzi@tudelft.nl

The deadline for submissions is February 1st 2026.

Submissions via: https://www.editorialmanager.com/synt/default.aspx

Please select the topical collection “T.C.: Epistemic Agency in the Age of AI” from the drop down menu when submitting your paper.

When preparing your submission, please follow the Synthese Submission Guidelines:
https://link.springer.com/journal/11229/submission-guidelines?IFA

ABOUT THE JOURNAL:

Synthese is a philosophy journal focusing on contemporary issues in epistemology, philosophy of science, and related fields. More specifically, we divide our areas of interest into four groups: (1) epistemology, methodology, and philosophy of science, all broadly understood. (2) The foundations of logic and mathematics, where ‘logic’, ‘mathematics’, and ‘foundations’ are all broadly understood. (3) Formal methods in philosophy, including methods connecting philosophy to other academic fields. (4) Issues in ethics and the history and sociology of logic, mathematics, and science that contribute to the contemporary studies Synthese focuses on, as described in (1)-(3) above. In order to be considered in Synthese, manuscripts need to engage in detail with and contribute substantially to the relevant current philosophical literature. Authors should make clear how their work goes beyond what has already been done in the relevant field. [Find more information at https://link.springer.com/journal/11229?IFA]