Knowledge

Readings in Contemporary Epistemology

Sven Bernecker and Edited by Fred I. Dretske

Fullest review to date of contemporary epistemology
Divided into fifteen subject areas, preceded by a new introduction by volume editors
Ideal for use on courses - covering all the main areas of epistemology
Distinguished editors and contributors

Knowledge

Readings in Contemporary Epistemology

Sven Bernecker and Edited by Fred I. Dretske

Description

Epistemology, or the theory of knowledge, is concerned with how we know what we do and what justifies us in believing what we do. The philosophical literature in epistemology has mushroomed in the past four decades, and interest in the topic continues to be widespread. In this anthology, Fred Dretske and Sven Bernecker have collected the most important and influential writings in epistemology. It provides the fullest review to date of contemporary epistemology, including frequently neglected topics such as dominant responses to scepticism, introspection, memory, and testimony.

Forty-one readings are organized into fifteen subject areas that are key to a broad understanding of contemporary theory of knowledge. A readable introduction to each subject outlines the problems discussed in the essays that follow so readers can more effectively focus on analysing them. The book is primarily designed for undergraduate courses on theories of knowledge. It will also be of use to university students in other fields as well as interested general readers.

Knowledge

Readings in Contemporary Epistemology

Sven Bernecker and Edited by Fred I. Dretske

PART I. JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEF
Introduction
The Gettier Problem
1: Knowing as Having the Right to be Sure, A J Ayer
2: Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?, Edmund L. Gettier
3: An Alleged Defect in Gettier Counter-Examples, Richard Feldman
Responses to Gettier
4: A Causal Theory of Knowing, Alvin I Goldman
5: Knowledge: Undefeated Justified True Belief, Keith Lehrer, Thomas D Paxson, Jr.
6: Conclusive Reasons, Fred I Dretske
PART II. EXTERNALISM AND INTERNALISM
Introduction
Externalism
7: The 'Thermometer' View of Knowledge, David M Armstrong
8: Discrimination and Perceptual Knowledge, Alvin I Goldman
9: Precis of 'Knowledge and the Flow of Information', Fred I Dretske
Internalism
10: The Indispensability of Internal Justification, Roderick M Chisholm
11: The Elements of Coherentism, Laurence BonJour
12: The Coherence Theory of Knowledge, Keith Lehrer
Criticisms and Compromises
13: What's Wrong with Reliabilism?, Richard Foley
14: Externalist Theories of Empirical Knowledge, Laurence BonJour
15: A Rationale for Reliabilism, Kent Bach
16: An Internalist Externalism, William P Alston
PART III. FOUNDATIONS AND NORMS
Introduction
Foundations
17: The Given, H H Price
18: The Directly Evident, Roderick M Chisholm
19: Does Empirical Knowledge have a Foundation?, Wilfrid Sellars
Normativity
20: Naturalized Epistemology, W V Quine
21: What is Naturalized Epistemology?, Jaegwon Kim
PART IV. SKEPTICISM
Introduction
Motivations
22: Understanding Human Knowledge in General, Barry Stroud
23: A defence of Skepticism, Peter Unger
Relevant Alternatives
24: Other Minds, J L Austin
25: . Knowledge and Scepticism, Robert Nozick
26: Elusive Knowledge, David Lewis
Semantic Approaches
27: Brains in a Vat, Hilary Putnam
28: The Epistemology of Belief, Fred I Dretske
29: A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge, Donald Davidson
PART V. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
Introduction
Perception
30: The Causal Theory of Perception, H P Grice
31: Perception and its Objects, Peter F Strawson
Introspection
32: Individualism and Self-Knowledge, Tyler Burge
33: Content and Self-Knowledge, Paul A. Boghossian
34: Externalism and the Attitudinal Component of Self-Knowledge, Sven Bernecker
Memory and Testimony
35: Remembering, C B Martin and Max Deutscher
36: Testimony and Observation, C A J Coady
Induction
37: On Induction, Bertrand Russell
38: The Pragmatic Justification of Induction, Hans Reichenback
39: The New Riddle of Induction, Nelson Goodman
A Priori Knowledge
40: A Priori Knowledge, Necessity, and Contingency, Saul A Kripke
41: A Priori Knowledge, Philip Kitcher
Index

Knowledge

Readings in Contemporary Epistemology

Sven Bernecker and Edited by Fred I. Dretske

Author Information

Sven Bernecker, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Munich, and Edited by Fred I. Dretske, Professor of Philosophy, Stanford University