Can pure epistemic norms be substantial?

Abstract

Epistemic norms seem to exhibit a substantial normativity in a way that conventional norms or rules of games do not. I argue that we can only allow for this distinction if the epistemic normative domain is not isolated from the broadly practical domain. I contend one cannot have both (a) epistemic purity and (b) substantial normativity. The paper begins bymaking the challenge clear, then lays out three recent attempts to meet this challenge, and argues that they are not successful. It ends by clarifying what is at stake in the debate; what are the concerns if purity is lost?