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Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to reflect on our anthropological contribution, based on fieldwork in Madagascar, to current debates concerning metacognition and epistemic norms in cognitive science as well as on our cognitive-scientific rethinking of several 'classic' issues in the ethnography of Madagascar.

Paper long abstract:

This paper is based on fieldwork conducted among the Zafimaniry (MB) and the southern Betsileo (DR) of highland Madagascar, as part of the ongoing, ERC-funded 'dividnorm' project. In our respective fieldsites we have tried to blend participant observation methodology with experimental studies in order to explore a variety of issues focusing on metacognition and epistemic norms. The aim of this research however was not only to contribute to debates in cognitive science, since we considered it equally important that investigating metacognition and epistemic norms in Madagascar should also bring light on ethnographic issues. For example, the ethnographic literature seems to suggest that the Malagasy value consensus more than other epistemic norms (e.g., truth, coherence, etc.) in the collective decision-making process, in particular at village councils. Is this really the case? And is this 'consensus principle' valid in a wide range of more ordinary situations or is it only limited to specific contexts where a collective decision has to be made? It has also been suggested that in the Malagasy highlands free descendants 'essentialize' slave descendants. But is this strong psychological essentialism about social kinds a matter of 'fluency' or a matter of consensus? Is the associated avoidance of marriage with slave descendants a question of epistemic rationality or a question of strategic rationality? By addressing these questions and a few others, we hope to show how ethnography and cognitive science can cross-fertilize and benefit from each other.