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Cover

Skepticism

A Contemporary Reader

Edited by Keith DeRose and Ted A. Warfield

Publication Date - January 1999

ISBN: 9780195118278

320 pages
Paperback
6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches

Description

Recently, new life has been breathed into the ancient philosophical topic of skepticism. The subject of some of the best and most provocative work in contemporary philosophy, skepticism has been addressed not only by top epistemologists but also by several of the world's finest philosophers who are most known for their work in other areas of the discipline.
Skepticism: A Contemporary Reader brings together the most important recent contributions to the discussion of skepticism. Covering major approaches to the skeptical problem, it features essays by Anthony Brueckner, Keith DeRose, Fred Dretske, Graeme Forbes, Christopher Hill, David Lewis, Thomas Nagel, Robert Nozick, Hilary Putnam, Ernest Sosa, Gail Stine, Barry Stroud, Peter Unger, and Ted Warfield. The book opens with a thorough introduction that outlines the skeptical problem, explains the dominant responses to skepticism, and discusses the strengths, weaknesses, and unresolved issues of each response, providing undergraduate students and nonphilosophers with the background and context necessary to understand the essays. Skepticism: A Contemporary Reader serves as an ideal text for courses in epistemology and skepticism and will also appeal to professional philosophers and interested general readers.

Table of Contents

    1. INTRODUCTION: RESPONDING TO SKEPTICISM, Keith DeRose
    1. The Argument by Skeptical Hypothesis
    2. "Aw, Come On!"
    3. Moore's Response
    4. The Response from Semantic Externalism
    5. Responses from Epistemic Externalism
    6. Relevant Alternatives and Denying Closure
    7. Contextualist Responses
    8. Concessive Responses
    PART ONE: THE RESPONSE FROM SEMANTIC EXTERNALISM
    2. Brains in a Vat, Hilary Putnam
    3. Semantic Answers to Skepticism, Anthony Brueckner
    4. Realism and Skepticism: Brains in a Vat Revisited, Graeme Forbes
    5. A Priori Knowledge of the World: Knowing the World by Knowing Our Minds, Ted A. Warfield
    PART TWO: RESPONSES FROM EPISTEMIC EXTERNALISM
    6. Philosophical Scepticism and Epistemic Circularity, Ernest Sosa
    7. Process Reliabilism and Cartesian Scepticism, Christopher S. Hill
    PART THREE: RELEVANT ALTERNATIVES AND DENYING CLOSURE
    8. Epistemic Operators, Fred Dretske
    9. Skepticism, Relevant Alternatives, and Deductive Closure, Gail Stine
    10. Selections from Philosophical Explanations, Robert Nozick
    PART FOUR: CONTEXTUALIST RESPONSES
    11. Solving the Skeptical Problem, Keith DeRose
    12. Elusive Knowledge, David Lewis
    PART FIVE: CONCESSIVE RESPONSES
    13. Selections from Philosophical Relativity, Peter Unger
    The Hypothesis of Philosophical Relativity
    Aspects of Semantic Relativity
    A Relativistic Approach to Some Philosophical Problems
    14. Selection from The View from Nowhere, Thomas Nagel
    1. Skepticism
    2. Antiskepticism
    3. Self-Transcendence
    4. Evolutionary Epistemology
    5. Rationalism
    6. Double Vision
    15. Scepticism, 'Externalism,' and the Goal of Inquiry, Barry Stroud
    Bibliography

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