Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction To The Theory Of .
EPISTEMOLOGY‘A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leadingfigures in the field It would be difficult to imagine a better way tointroduce students to epistemology.’William P.Alston, Syracuse University‘No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who isalso a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, andexcellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. Asuperb introduction.’Ernest Sosa, Brown University‘This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtuallyall the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi’s text is lucid and highlyreadable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subjectmatter This book will be an invaluable resource for intermediate andadvanced undergraduates, and for starting graduates, and will be ofconsiderable interest to professional colleagues also.’Elizabeth Fricker, University of Oxford‘Easily among the best and most comprehensive introductions toepistemology. It covers a wide variety of important topics in an accessible,clear and stimulating style. Audi considers a variety of positionssympathetically and fairly, while defending his favored solutions. This isprecisely what one wants in a philosophy text.’Noah Lemos, DePauw University‘Very good coverage of the major problems of epistemology.’Jonathan Kvanvig, Texas A & M UniversityEpistemology, or the theory of knowledge, is concerned with how weknow what we do, what justifies us in believing what we do, and whatstandards of evidence we should use in seeking truths about the world andhuman experience. This comprehensive book introduces the concepts andtheories central for understanding knowledge. It aims to reach studentswho have already done an introductory philosophy course and generalreaders in epistemology at any level.Robert Audi’s approach is new and exciting, drawing the reader into therich and fascinating subfields and theories of the subject in a natural way,
iiguided by key concrete examples. Major topics include perception andreflection as grounds of knowledge, and the nature, structure, and varietiesof knowledge. Also considered are the character and scope of knowledge inthe crucial realms of ethics, science and religion.Robert Audi is the Charles J.Mach Distinguished Professor of Philosophyat the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is internationally recognized asone of the leading authors in the field of epistemology. His books includeThe Structure of Justification (Cambridge University Press, 1993), Action,Intention, and Reason (Cornell University Press, 1993) and MoralKnowledge and Ethical Character (Oxford University Press, 1997).
Routledge Contemporary Introductions to PhilosophySeries Editor:Paul K.MoserLoyola University of ChicagoThis innovative, well-structured series is for students who have alreadydone an introductory course in philosophy and others interested in thetopic. Each book introduces a core general subject in contemporaryphilosophy and offers students an accessible but substantial transition fromintroductory to higher-level college work in that subject. The series isaccessible to nonspecialists and each book clearly motivates and expoundsthe problems and positions introduced. An orienting chapter brieflyintroduces its topic and reminds readers of any crucial material they needto have retained from a typical introductory course. Considerable attentionis given to explaining the central philosophical problems of a subject andthe main competing solutions and arguments for those solutions. Theprimary aim is to educate students in the main problems, positions andarguments of contemporary philosophy rather than to convince them of asingle position. The initial eight central books in the series are written byexperienced authors and teachers and treat topics essential to a wellrounded philosophy curriculum.EpistemologyRobert AudiEthicsHarry GenslerMetaphysicsMichael J.LouxThe Philosophy of ArtNoel CarrollThe Philosophy of LanguageWilliam G.LycanThe Philosophy of MindJohn HeilThe Philosophy of ReligionKeith E.YandellThe Philosophy of ScienceAlexander Rosenberg
EPISTEMOLOGYA contemporary introduction to thetheory of knowledgeRobert AudiLondon and New York
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First published in 1998by Routledge11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EEThis edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’scollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”Simultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby Routledge29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001Reprinted 1998, 1999 1998 Robert AudiAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted orreproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafterinvented, including photocopying and recording, or in anyinformation storage or retrieval system, without permission inwriting from the publishers.British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryLibrary of Congress Cataloguing in Publication DataAudi, RobertEpistemology: a contemporary introduction to the theory ofknowledge/Robert Audi.(Routledge contemporary introductions to philosophy; 2)Includes bibliographical references and index.1. Knowledge, Theory of. I. Title. II. Series.BD161.A783 1998121–dc21 97–11598ISBN 0-203-98210-X Master e-book ISBNISBN 0-415-13042-5 (hbk)0-415-13043-3 (pbk)
rt One: Sources of justification, knowledge, and truth11Chapter 1:Perception12The elements and basic kinds of perception14Seeing and believing18Some commonsense views of perception27The theory of appearing29Sense-datum theories of perception30Adverbial theories of perception36Adverbial and sense-datum theories of sensoryexperience38Phenomenalism40Perception and the senses44Memory53Memory and the past54The causal basis of memory beliefs56Theories of memory57Remembering, recalling, and imaging64The epistemological centrality of memory66Consciousness72Two basic kinds of mental properties73Chapter 2:Chapter 3:
viiiChapter 4:Chapter 5:Introspection and inward vision75Some theories of introspective consciousness76Consciousness and privileged access80Introspective consciousness as a source of justificationand knowledge85Reason91Self-evident truths of reason92The classical view of the truths of reason94The empiricist view of the truths of reason102The conventionalist view of the truths of reason107Some difficulties and strengths of the classical view111Testimony128Formal and informal testimony129The psychology of testimony130The epistemology of testimony134The indispensability of testimonial grounds139Part Two: The structure and growth of justification and knowledge148Chapter 6:Inference and the extension of knowledge149The process, content, and structure of inference150Inference and the growth of knowledge155Source conditions and transmission conditions158The inferential transmission of justification andknowledge160Memorial preservation of inferential justification andinferential knowledge169The architecture of knowledge174Inferential chains and the structure of belief176The epistemic regress problem179The epistemic regress argument184Foundationalism and coherentism185Chapter 7:
ixPartThree:Chapter 8:Chapter 9:Chapter10:Holistic coherentism186The nature of coherence189Coherence, reason, and experience192Coherence and second-order justification198Moderate foundationalism201The nature and scope of justification and knowledge208The Analysis of Knowledge209Knowledge and justified true belief210Knowledge as the right kind of justified true belief212Naturalistic accounts of the concept of knowledge217Problems for reliability theories220Knowledge and justification225Internalism and externalism227Justification and truth234Concluding proposals239Scientific, moral, and religious knowledge245Scientific knowledge246Moral knowledge255Religious knowledge265Skepticism276The possibility of pervasive error277Skepticism generalized281The egocentric lity, evidential transmission, and induction295The authority of knowledge and the cogency of itsgrounds298
xRefutation and rebuttal301Prospects for a positive defense of common sense303Skepticism and common sense308Conclusion313Short annotated bibliography of books inepistemology322Index329
PrefaceThis book is a wide-ranging introduction to epistemology, conceived as thetheory of knowledge and justification. It presupposes no specialbackground in philosophy and is meant to be fully understandable to anygenerally educated, careful reader, but for students it is most appropriatelystudied after completing at least one more general course in philosophy.The main focus is the body of concepts, theories, and problems central inunderstanding knowledge and justification. Historically, justification—sometimes under such names as ‘reason to believe’, ‘evidence’, and‘warrant’—has been as important in epistemology as knowledge itself. Thisis surely so at present. In many parts of the book, justification andknowledge are discussed separately; but they are also interconnected atmany points. The book is not historically organized, but it does discussselected major positions in the history of philosophy, particularly some ofthose that have greatly influenced human thought. Moreover, even wheremajor philosophers are not mentioned, I try to take their views into account.One of my primary aims is to facilitate the reading of those philosophers,especially their epistemological writings. It would take a very long book todiscuss representative contemporary epis-temologists or, in any detail, evena few historically important epistemologies, but a shorter one can providemany of the tools needed to understand them. Providing such tools is one ofmy main purposes.The use of this book in the study of philosophy is not limited to coursesor investigations in epistemology. Epistemological problems and theoriesare often interconnected with problems and theories in the philosophy ofmind; nor are these two fields of philosophy easily separated (a point thatmay hold, if to a lesser extent, for any two central philosophical fields).There is, then, much discussion of the topics in the philosophy of mind thatare crucial for epistemology, for instance the phenomenology ofperception, the nature of belief, the role of imagery in memory andintrospection, the variety of mental properties figuring in self-knowledge,the nature of inference, and the structure of a person’s system of beliefs.Parts of the book might serve as collateral reading not only in pursuingthe philosophy of mind but also in the study of a number of philosophers
xiioften discussed in philosophy courses, especially Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas,Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and Mill. The bookmight facilitate the study of moral philosophy, such as Kantian andutilitarian ethics, both discussed in some detail in Chapter 9; and it bearsdirectly on topics in the epistemology of religion, some of which are alsodiscussed in Chapter 9.The writing is intended to be as simple and concrete as possible for aphilosophically serious introduction that does not seek simplicity at thecost of falsehood. The territory surveyed, however, is extensive and rich.This means that the book cannot be traversed quickly without missinglandmarks or failing to get a view of the larger segments and their place inthe whole. Any one chapter can perhaps be read at a sitting, but experiencehas shown that even the shortest chapter covers too many concepts andpositions for most readers to assimilate in a single reading and far morethan most instructors can cover in any detail in a single session.To aid concentration on the main points, and to keep the book frombecoming more complicated, notes are limited, though parentheticalreferences are given in some places and there is also a short selectedbibliography with thumbnail annotations. By and large, the notes are notneeded for full comprehension and are intended mainly for professionalphilosophers and serious students. There are also some subsections thatmost readers can probably scan, or even skip, without significant loss incomprehending the main points of the relevant chapter. Technical termsare explained briefly when introduced and are avoided when they can be.Most of the major terms central in epistemology are defined or explicated,and boldfaced numbers in the index indicate main definitional passages. Butsome are indispensable: they are not mere words, but tools; and some ofthese terms express concepts valuable outside epistemology and evenoutside philosophy. The index, by its boldfaced page references todefinitions, obviates a glossary.It should also be stressed that this book is mainly concerned to introducethe field of epistemology rather than the literature of epistemology—animportant but less basic task. It will, however, help non-professionalreaders prepare for a critical study of that literature, contemporary as wellas classical. For that reason, too, some special vocabulary is introduced anda number of the notes refer to contemporary works.The sequence of topics is designed to introduce the field in a naturalprogression: from the genesis of justification and knowledge (Part One), totheir development and structure (Part Two), and thence to questions aboutwhat they are and how far they extend (Part Three). Even apart from itsplace in this ordering, each chapter addresses a major epistemological topic,and any subset of the chapters can be studied in any order provided someappropriate effort is made to supply the (generally few) essential points forwhich a later chapter depends on an earlier one.
xiiiFor the most part this book does epistemology rather than talk about itor, especially, about its literature. In keeping with that focus, the orderingof chapters is intended to encourage understanding epistemology beforediscussing it in large-scale terms, for instance before considering what sortof epistemological theory, say normativist or naturalistic, best accounts forknowledge. My strategy is, in part, to discuss myriad cases of justificationand knowledge before approaching analyses of what they are, or theskeptical case against our having them.In one way, this approach differs markedly from that of manyepistemological books. I leave the assessment of skepticism for the lastchapter; early passages indicate that skeptical problems must be faced and,in some cases, how they are connected with the subject at hand or areotherwise important. Unlike some philosophers, I do not think extensivediscussion of skepticism is the best way to motivate the study ofepistemology. Granted, historically skepticism has been a major motivatingforce; but it is not the only one, and epistemological concepts holdindependent interest. Moreover, in assessing skepticism I use manyconcepts and points developed in earlier chapters; to treat it early in thebook, I would have to delay assessing it.There is also a certain risk in posing skeptical problems at or near theoutset: non-professional readers may tend to be distracted, even indiscussing conceptual questions concerning, say, what knowledge is, by adesire to deal with skeptical arguments purporting to show that there isnone. There may be no best or wholly neutral way to treat skepticism, butI believe my approach to it can be adapted to varying degrees of skepticalinclination. An instructor who prefers to begin with skepticism can do soby taking care to explain some of the ideas introduced earlier in the book.The first few sections of Chapter 10, largely meant to introduce andmotivate skepticism, presuppose far less of the earlier chapters than thelater, evaluative discussion; and most of the chapter is understandable onthe basis of Part One, which is probably easier reading than Part Two.My exposition of problems and positions is meant to be as nearlyunbiased as I can make it, and where controversial interpretations areunavoidable I try to present them tentatively. In many places, however, Ioffer my own view. Given the scope of the book, I cannot provide a highlydetailed explanation of each major position discussed, or argue at length formy own views. I make no pretense of treating anything conclusively. But insome cases—as with skepticism—I do not want to leave the readerwondering where I stand, or perhaps doubting that there is any solution tothe problem at hand. I thus propose some tentative positions for criticaldiscussion.
AcknowledgmentsThis book has profited from my reading of many articles and books bycontemporary philosophers, and from many discussions I have had withthem and, of course, with my students. I cannot mention all of thesephilosophers, and I am sure that my debt to those I will name—as well asto some I do not, such as some whose journal papers I have read but havenot picked up again, and some I have heard at conferences—isincalculable. Over many years, I have benefited greatly from discussionswith William Alston, as well as from reading his works; and I thank him fordetailed critical comments on parts of the manuscript. Reading of books orarticles (or both) by Roderick Chisholm, Richard Foley, Paul Moser, AlvinPlantinga, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and Ernest Sosa, and a number ofdiscussions with them, have also substantially helped me over many years.My colleagues at the University of Nebraska, especially Albert Casullo, andseveral of my students have also helped me at many points. I have learnedgreatly from the participants in the National Endowment for theHumanities seminars and institutes I have directed. I also benefited muchfrom the papers given to the seminars or institutes by (among others)Laurence BonJour, Fred Dretske, Alvin Goldman, Gilbert Harman, KeithLehrer, Ruth Marcus, and John Perry, with all of whom I have beenfruitfully discussing epistemological topics on one occasion or another formany years.In relation to some of the main problems treated in the book, I havelearned immensely from many other philosophers, including FrederickAdams, Robert Almeder, David Armstrong, John A.Barker, RichardBrandt, Panayot Butch-varov, Carol Caraway, the late Hector-NeriCastañeda, Wayne Davis, Michael DePaul, Susan Feagin, RichardFeldman, Roderick Firth, Richard Fumerton, Carl Ginet, Alan Goldman,Risto Hilpinen, Jaegwon Kim, John King-Farlow, Peter Klein, HilaryKornblith, Christopher Kulp, Jonathan Kvanvig, Brian McLaughlin,George S.Pappas, John Pollock, Lawrence Powers, W.V.Quine, WilliamRowe, Bruce Russell, Frederick Schmitt, Thomas Senor, Robert Shope,Donna Summerfield, Marshall Swain, William Throop, Raimo Tuomela,James Van Cleve, Thomas Vinci, Jonathan Vogel, and Nicholas
xvWolterstorff. In most cases I have not only read some epistemological workof theirs, but discussed one or another epistemological problem with themin detail.Other philosophers whose comments or works have helped me withsome part of the book include Anthony Brueckner, Stewart Cohen, EarlConee, Dan Crawford, Jonathan Dancy, Timothy Day, Robert Fogelin,Elizabeth Fricker, Bernard Gert, Heather Gert, David Henderson, TerenceHorgan, Dale Jacquette, Eric Kraemer, Noah Lemos, Kevin Possin, DanaRadcliffe, Nicholas Rescher, Stefan Sencerz, James Taylor, Paul Tidman,Mark Timmons, William Tolhurst, Mark Webb, Douglas Weber, ÜmitYalçin, and Patrick Yarnell.I owe special thanks to the philosophers who generously commented indetail on all or most of some version of the manuscript: John Greco, LouisPojman, and Matthias Steup. Their numerous remarks led to manyimprovements. Detailed helpful comments were also provided by readersfor the Press, including Nicholas Everett, Frank Jackson, and Noah Lemos.All of the philosophers who commented on an earlier draft not only helpe
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Reprinted 1998, 1999
PART ONE: GASTON BACHELARD'S HISTORICAL EPISTEMOLOGY Foreword by Georges Canguilhem 23 Introduction 25 Recognitions 32 The New Problematics 71 Re-workingConcepts 87 Conclusion IIO Appendices t9 Part One III PART TWO: FOR A CRITIQUE OF EPISTEMOLOGY Introduction 119 From Bachel
B. Greek Epistemology: Its Climax . Instead of developing further the great differences between the two main types of epistemology, Scholasticism attempts to harmonize the Greek and the theistic traditions. . the redemptive plan of God in its objective element, the Scriptures, and in its subjective
A. Fairweather (ed.), Virtue Epistemology Naturalized: Bridges Between Virtue Epistemology 1 and Philosophy of Science , Synthese Library 366, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-04672-3_1,
EPSA15 Selected Papers (Dordrecht: Springer, 2017), pp. 3-12. 16. “The Epistemology of Modality and the Epistemology of Mathematics”, in Robert Fischer and Felipe Leon (eds.), Modal Epistemology Afte
Another atheist told me that I and Christians like me are a . Street Epistemology: Why?!5 of !16 dying breed and will soon be gone. That goes to the desire of atheists to be rid of us all. Contain and Eradicate Boghossian made this strong statement during a talk to atheists about street epistemology soon after his book was published – .
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work/products (Beading, Candles, Carving, Food Products, Soap, Weaving, etc.) ⃝I understand that if my work contains Indigenous visual representation that it is a reflection of the Indigenous culture of my native region. ⃝To the best of my knowledge, my work/products fall within Craft Council standards and expectations with respect to
conception of knowledge involves, how it is applied, and to explain why it has the features it does.And the idea of knowledge at issue here must,in the first in-stance at least,be construed in its modest sense to include also belief,conjecture, and the like. For it is misleading to call cognitive theory at large “epistemology”
