Graduation Year
2026
Date of Submission
5-2026
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Andrew Schroeder
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Rights Information
©2026 Yui Kurosawa
Abstract
This thesis examines whether an epistocracy — rule of the knowledgeable — could ever be implemented as a morally permissible alternative to democracy. Building on Jason Brennan’s instrumental critique of democracy in Against Democracy, I lay out his argument that systematic voter ignorance undermines the epistemic capacity of “one person, one vote” to reliably generate just and well-informed political decisions. Brennan argues that epistocratic institutions, which allocate political power according to political competence rather than by equal distribution, are better positioned to achieve such decisions and therefore more legitimate than democracy.
Epistocracy, as an aspirational alternative, may indeed be promising; its epistemic capacity to produce good political outcomes could plausibly exceed democracy’s. However, Brennan drastically understates the moral costs of transitioning from a democracy to an epistocracy. To demonstrate this, I introduce the Principle of Morally Insignificant Offense, which specifies three conditions under which offense generated by exclusion carries no moral weight. Applying this framework reveals that, under present social hierarchies and historical conditions, offense at disenfranchisement carries profound moral significance. As a result, the transition to epistocracy is morally impermissible: despite epistocracy’s instrumental advantages, its implementation under current conditions cannot be justified. I conclude by outlining two paths forward — transforming the background conditions that make disenfranchisement injurious, or pursuing alternative institutional reforms that achieve democracy’s epistemic aims without repeating its injustices — suggesting that even if epistocracy may not yet be permissible, a more competent and more just political future is possible.
Recommended Citation
Kurosawa, Yui, "Why We Can’t “Get Over It”: Offense and the Moral Limits of Epistocracy" (2026). CMC Senior Theses. 4286.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/4286
