20 Best Books On Epistemology (2023 Update)

This comprehensive anthology draws together classic and contemporary readings by leading philosophers on epistemology. ideal for any philosophy student, it will prove essential reading for epistemology courses, and is designed to complement robert audi's textbook epistemology: a contemporary introduction (routledge, 1998). themes covered include, perception, memory, inductive inference, reason and the a priori, the architecture of knowledge, skepticism, the analysis of knowledge, testimony. each section begins with an introductory essay, guiding students into the topic.includes articles by: russell, hume, berkeley, malcolm, quine, carnap, j.l. austin, pollock, nozick, putnam, g.e. moore, huemer, reid, plato, bonjour, coady, carroll, fumerton, edwards, foster, howson, urbach, stove, empiricus, oakley, alston, gettier, clark, goldman, lehrer, paxson, derose, dretske, klein and chisholm

How do you know what you know? epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge. what is knowledge? how do you know you are not dreaming? presuming no prior experience of philosophy, this book covers everything in the topic from scepticism and possible worlds to kant’s transcendentalism. clear and readable, epistemology: a beginner’s guide is essential reading for students and aspiring thinkers.

The oxford handbook of epistemology contains 19 previously unpublished chapters by today's leading figures in the field. these chapters function not only as a survey of key areas, but as original scholarship on a range of vital topics. written accessibly for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional philosophers, the handbook explains the main ideas and problems of contemporary epistemology while avoiding overly technical detail.

What does it mean to know something? epistemology, the study of knowledge, can often seem like a daunting subject. and yet few topics are more basic to human life. what are the conditions, sources and limits of our knowledge? do our beliefs need to be rationally justified? in this primer on epistemology, james dew and mark foreman guide students through this discipline in philosophy. by asking basic questions and using clear, jargon-free language, they provide an entry into some of the most important issues in contemporary philosophy.

What is knowledge? why is it valuable? these are just a few questions that are asked in epistemology, roughly, the philosophical theory of knowledge. this is epistemology is a comprehensive introduction to the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and scope of human knowledge. exploring both classic debates and contemporary issues in epistemology, this rigorous yet accessible textbook provides readers with the foundation necessary to start doing epistemology. organized around 11 key subtopics, and assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, this volume exposes readers to diverse, often contentious perspectives—guiding readers through crucial debates including hume’s problem of induction, descartes’ engagement with radical skepticism, rationalist and empiricist evaluations of a priori justification, and many more. the authors avoid complex technical terms and jargon in favor of an easy-to-follow, informal writing style with engaging chapters designed to stimulate student interest and encourage class discussion. throughout the text, a wealth of up-to-date references and links to online resources are provided to enable further investigation of an array of epistemological topics. a balanced and authoritative addition to the acclaimed this is philosophy series, this is epistemology is a perfect primary textbook for philosophy undergraduates, and a valuable resource for general readers with interest in this important branch of philosophy.

Since the late 1980s, queer studies and theory have become vital to the intellectual and political life of the united states. this has been due, in no small degree, to the influence of eve kosofsky sedgwick's critically acclaimed epistemology of the closet. working from classic texts of european and american writers—including melville, james, nietzsche, proust, and wilde—sedgwick analyzes a turn-of-the-century historical moment in which sexual orientation became as important a demarcation of personhood as gender had been for centuries. in her preface to this updated edition sedgwick places the book both personally and historically, looking specifically at the horror of the first wave of the aids epidemic and its influence on the text.

This comprehensive introduction explains the concepts and theories central to understanding knowledge. the third edition features new sections on such topics as the nature of intuition, the skeptical challenge of rational disagreement, and "the value problem"ùthe question why knowledge is preferable to mere true belief. special features of the third edition of epistemology include:-enhanced treatment of key topics such as perception, scientific hypotheses, self-evidence and the a priori, testimony, contextualism, understanding, and virtue epistemology-expanded discussion of the relation between epistemology and related fields, especially philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and ethics-greater clarity for undergraduate readersadvance praise for the third edition:robert audi's epistemology, third edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art textbook in the field. in clear, masterful prose, audi covers all the main topics in epistemology… every student of epistemologyùnew and oldùshould read this book.- peter graham, university of cahlivnia, riverside"… unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible… a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.-ralph kennedy, wake forest university"… a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. novices and experts alike will continually profitùand tremendously soùfrom studying it… an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys."-e.j. coffman, university of tennesseepraise for the second edition:"…philosophically insightful and masterfully writtenùeven more so in its new edition. guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts."-claudio de almeida, pucrs, brazil"my students like this book and have learned much from it, as i have… epistemology … is simply the best textbook in epistemology that i know of."-thomas vinci, dalhousie universitypraise for the first edition:"no less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor … a superb introduction."-ernest sosa, rutgers university"this is a massively impressive book, introducing …virtually all the main areas of epistemology…. lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter."-elizabeth m. fricker; university of oxford"a state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field."-william p. alston, syracuse university

This book is an introduction to the fundamental problems and issues of epistemology. it assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and is therefore ideal as a core text for beginning students. professor landesman takes the reader through a discussion of the basis of human knowledge in sense-perception and the accuracy of sense-perception in conveying knowledge of the external world. he then goes on to explore the problem of skepticism, the nature of self-knowledge, the validity of induction and the ethics of belief. further reading suggestions featured at the end of each section are designed to help and encourage students to deepen their knowledge of the subject.

What have wisdom, prudence and studiousness to do with justifying our beliefs? jay wood begins this introduction to epistemology by taking an extended look at the idea of knowing within the context of the intellectual virtues. he then surveys current views of foundationalism, epistemic justification and reliabilism. finally he examines the relationship of epistemology to religious belief, and the role of emotions and virtues in proper cognitive functioning professors will find this text, with its many examples drawn from everyday student experience, especially useful in introducing students to the formal study of epistemology.

New and thoroughly updated, epistemology: an anthology continues to represent the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of canonical readings in the theory of knowledge. concentrates on the central topics of the field, such as skepticism and the pyrrhonian problematic, the definition of knowledge, and the structure of epistemic justification offers coverage of more specific topics, such as foundationalism vs coherentism, and virtue epistemology presents wholly new sections on 'testimony, memory, and perception' and 'the value of knowledge' features modified sections on 'the structure of knowledge and justification', 'the non-epistemic in epistemology', and 'the nature of the epistemic' includes many of the most important contributions made in recent decades by several outstanding authors

Epistemology has traditionally been motivated by a desire to respond to skeptical challenges. traditional theories of knowledge offer responses to the skeptic which fail to draw on the resources of the sciences. this is no simple oversight; there are principled reasons why such resources are thought to be unavailable to the theorist of knowledge. this book takes a different approach. after arguing that appeals to science are not illegitimate in responding to skepticism, this book shows how the sciences offer an illuminating perspective on traditional questions about the nature and possibility of knowledge. this book serves as anintroduction to a scientifically informed approach to the theory of knowledge. this book is a vital resource for students and scholars interested in epistemology and its connections to recent development in cognitive science.

In a world of appalling social inequalities people are becoming more aware of the multiple dimensions of injustice, whether social, political, cultural, sexual, ethnic, religious, historical, or ecological. rarely acknowledged is another vital dimension: cognitive injustice, the failure to recognize the different ways of knowing by which people across the globe run their lives and provide meaning to their existence. this book shows why cognitive injustice underlies all the other dimensions; global social justice is not possible without global cognitive justice. santos s argument unfolds in two inquiries. no matter how internally diverse, western modernity provided the knowledge underlying the long cycle of colonialism followed by global capitalism. these historical processes profoundly devalued and marginalized the knowledge and wisdom that had been in existence in the global south. today, working against epistemicide is imperative in order to recover and valorize the epistemological diversity of the world. such recovery and valorization is the book s second inquiry and is based on four key analytical tools: sociology of absences, sociology of emergences, ecology of knowledges, and intercultural translation. the transformation of the world s epistemological diversity into an empowering instrument against hegemonic globalization points to a new kind of bottom-up cosmopolitanism. it would promote a wide conversation of humankind, celebrating conviviality, solidarity, and life against the logic of market-ridden greed and individualism and the destruction of life to which world populations large and small are condemned by the dominant forces of globalization. –provided by publisher.

This volume represents the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of canonical readings in theory of knowledge. concentration on the central topics of the field, it includes many of the most important contributions made in recent decades by several outstanding authors. topics include skepticism and the pyrrhonian problematic, the definition of knowledge, and the structure of epistemic justification. more specific topics may be found epistemology naturalized, foundationalism vs. coherentism, and virtue epistemology. the volume is ideal as a reader for all courses in epistemology.

"a welcome and fresh addition to a market that has been dominated by rather traditional texts…instructors will enjoy teaching with it in their classrooms" — teaching philosophy, march 1998. this text offers an exceptionally lucid account of how philosophers in the 20th century have challenged the ideas of "modern" philosophers (17th century) on fundamental questions in epistemology (theory of knowledge). numerous examples are used to help undergraduates grasp the material. self-study questions and further readings are included. the book sets out the traditional view that knowledge is justified true belief and then presents gettier's challenge to this theory. three alternative accounts of knowledge–the "reliable method" account, the "casual" account, and nozick's "tracking" account–are examined. fisher and everitt argue in favor of attending to justified belief rather than knowledge and present a view which tentatively favors a "casual" theory of justified belief. next the authors assess and reject "foundationalism," a popular position in modern philosophy. though foundationalism about empirical beliefs is commonly discussed in textbooks, this book is unique in giving foundationalism about a priori beliefs equal and expert consideration. in the second half of the book the authors present alternatives to modern epistemology, including coherentism, quine's "naturalized epistemology," and rorty's critique. these discussions are undertaken with a great deal of sensitivity to the needs of the beginning student of epistemology.

A rigorous, authoritative new anthology which brings together some of the most significant contemporary scholarship on the theory of knowledge carefully-calibrated and judiciously-curated, this strong and contemporary new anthology builds upon epistemology: an anthology, second edition (wiley blackwell, 2008) by drawing a concise and well-balanced selection of higher-level readings from a large, diverse, and evolving body of research. includes 17 readings that represent a broad and vital part of contemporary epistemology, including articles by female philosophers and emerging thought leaders organized into seven thoughtful and distinct sections, including virtue epistemology, practical reasons for belief, and epistemic dysfunctions among others designed to sit alongside the highly-successful anthology of canonical essays, epistemology: an anthology, second edition (wiley blackwell, 2008) edited by a distinguished editorial team, including ernie sosa, one of the most influential active epistemologists highlights cutting edge methodologies and contemporary topics for advanced students, instructors, and researchers

Bayesian ideas have recently been applied across such diverse fields as philosophy, statistics, economics, psychology, artificial intelligence, and legal theory. fundamentals of bayesian epistemology examines epistemologists' use of bayesian probability mathematics to represent degrees of belief. titelbaum provides an accessible introduction to the key concepts and principles of the bayesian formalism, enabling the reader both to follow epistemological debates and to see broader implications volume 1 begins by motivating the use of degrees of belief in epistemology. it then introduces, explains, and applies the five core bayesian normative rules: kolmogorov's three probability axioms, the ratio formula for conditional degrees of belief, and conditionalization for updating attitudes over time. finally, it discusses further normative rules (such as the principal principle, or indifference principles) that have been proposed to supplement or replace the core five. volume 2 gives arguments for the five core rules introduced in volume 1, then considers challenges to bayesian epistemology. it begins by detailing bayesianism's successful applications to confirmation and decision theory. then it describes three types of arguments for bayesian rules, based on representation theorems, dutch books, and accuracy measures. finally, it takes on objections to the bayesian approach and alternative formalisms, including the statistical approaches of frequentism and likelihoodism.

This book examines skeptical problems originally raised by descartes and hume and currently discussed in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and epistemology. it answers the basic skeptical questions concerning the existence of what is now unperceived, the reality of what is perceived, and the existence of an external world. johnstone shows how the recently proposed solutions to these skeptical problems— pragmatic, coherentist, linguistic, and new-kantian — do not and cannot work, and how only a return to foundational investigation on the terrain of the radical skeptic is adequate to the task. his analyses make for a valuable summary of every significant argument brought against skepticism. in the course of his investigation, johnstone probes a number of topical issues: knowledge, rationality, the nature of meaning, nonverbal thinking, the bodily nature of the thinking self, parasitism, the role of the tactile-kinesthetic body in feeling and belief, and the necessary role of free will in epistemology.

Bayesian ideas have recently been applied across such diverse fields as philosophy, statistics, economics, psychology, artificial intelligence, and legal theory. fundamentals of bayesian epistemology examines epistemologists' use of bayesian probability mathematics to represent degrees of belief. titelbaum provides an accessible introduction to the key concepts and principles of the bayesian formalism, enabling the reader both to follow epistemological debates and to see broader implications volume 1 begins by motivating the use of degrees of belief in epistemology. it then introduces, explains, and applies the five core bayesian normative rules: kolmogorov's three probability axioms, the ratio formula for conditional degrees of belief, and conditionalization for updating attitudes over time. finally, it discusses further normative rules (such as the principal principle, or indifference principles) that have been proposed to supplement or replace the core five. volume 2 gives arguments for the five core rules introduced in volume 1, then considers challenges to bayesian epistemology. it begins by detailing bayesianism's successful applications to confirmation and decision theory. then it describes three types of arguments for bayesian rules, based on representation theorems, dutch books, and accuracy measures. finally, it takes on objections to the bayesian approach and alternative formalisms, including the statistical approaches of frequentism and likelihoodism.

Illuminating the mind puts the field of buddhist epistemology in conversation with contemporary debates in philosophy. jonathan stoltz provides readers with an introduction to epistemology within the buddhist intellectual tradition in a manner that is accessible to those whose primary background is in the "western" tradition of philosophy. the book examines many of the most important topics in the field of epistemology, topics that are central both to contemporary discussions of epistemology and to the classical buddhist tradition of epistemology in india and tibet. among the topics discussed are buddhist accounts of the nature of knowledge episodes, the defining conditions of perceptual knowledge and of inferential knowledge, the status of testimonial knowledge, and skeptical criticisms of the entire project of epistemology. stoltz demonstrates how many of the arguments and debates occurring within classical buddhist epistemological treatises coincide with the arguments and disagreements found in contemporary epistemology. he shows, for example, how buddhist epistemologists developed an anti-luck epistemology-one that is linked to a sensitivity requirement for knowledge. likewise, stoltz explores the question of how the study of buddhist epistemology can be of relevance to contemporary debates about the value of contributions from experimental epistemologists, and to broader debates concerning the use of philosophical intuitions about knowledge. illuminating the mind is essential reading for scholars and students interested in epistemology and its treatment in intellectual traditions beyond western philosophy.

As anthony tol explains in his general introduction to (his translation of) vollenhoven's 1926 inaugural address, the reformed epistemology that vollenhoven espouses here is essentially three-layered. most basic is the intuition – the starting point of all knowing. it starts with discerning. then there is knowledge. at this point language, communication, and judgments are relevant. the third layer is thought. thought is also central to concept formation. the factor that runs through these three layers is truth, taken realistically. it has its seat in the intuition of discerning. it is central to knowledge, for the essence of knowledge is said to be "possessing truth." and in connection with thought, or more particularly in concept formation, the latter is described as "truth grasped in a form." apart from advocating his own understanding of epistemology in this inaugural address, vollenhoven takes issue with how epistemology is generally understood. the critique is cast in a historical overview.