What is this thing called knowledge? / Duncan Pritchard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pritchard, Duncan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

ix,185 pages ; 26 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2010.

Summary:

What is Knowledge? Where does it come from? Can we know anything at all? This lucid and engaging introduction grapples with these central questions in the theory of knowledge, offering a clear, non-partisan view of the main themes of epistemology including recent developments such as virtue epistemology and contextualism. Duncan Pritchard discusses traditional issues and contemporary ideas in thirteen easily digestible sections, including: the value of knowledgethe structure of knowledgevirtues and facultiesperceptiontestimony and memoryinductionscepticism. What is this thing called Knowledge? contains many helpful student-friendly features including study questions, annotated further reading, a glossary and a guide to web resources. Clear and interesting examples are used throughout. This is an ideal first textbook in the theory of knowledge for undergraduates taking a first course in philosophy.

Contents:

What is knowledge?

Some preliminaries

Types of knowledge

Two basic requirements on knowledge : truth and belief

Knowing versus merely getting it right

A brief remark on truth

The value of knowledge

Why care about knowledge?

The instrumental value of true belief

The statues of Daedalus

Is some knowledge intrinsically valuable?

Defining knowledge

The problem of the criterion

Methodism and particularism

Knowledge as justifed true belief

Gettier cases

Responding to the gettier cases

Back to the problem of the criterion

The structure of knowledge

Knowledge and justification

The enigmatic nature of justification

Agrippa's trilemma

Infinitism

Coherentism

Foundationalism

Rationality

Rationality, justification, and knowledge

Epistemic rationality and the goal of truth

The goal(s) of epistemic rationality

The (un)importance of epistemic rationality

Rationality and responsibility

Epistemic internalism/externalism

Virtues and faculties

Reliabilism

A gettier problem for reliabilism

Virtue epistemology

Virtue epistemology and the externalism/internalism distinction

Where does knowledge come from?

Perception

The problem of perceptual knowledge

Indirect realism

Idealism

Transcendental idealism

Direct realism

Testimony and memory

The problem of testimonial knowledge

Reductionism

Credulism

The problem of memorial knowledge

A priority and inference

A priori and empirical knowledge

The interdependence of A priori and empirical knowledge

Introspective knowledge

Deduction

Induction

Abduction

The problem of induction

Responding to the problem of induction

Living with the problem of induction I : falsification

Living with the problem of induction II : pragmatism

A case study : moral knowledge

The problem of moral knowledge

Scepticism about moral facts

Scepticism about moral knowledge

The nature of moral knowledge (I) : classical foundationalism

The nature of moral knowledge (II) : alternative conceptions

Do we know anything at all?

Scepticism about other minds

The problem of other minds

The argument from analogy

A problem for the argument from analogy

Two versions of the problem of other minds

Perceiving someone else's mind

Radical scepticism

The radical sceptical paradox

Scepticism and closure

Mooreanism

Contextualism

Truth and objectivity

Objectivity, anti-realism, and scepticism

Truth as the goal of inquiry

Authenticity and the value of truth

Relativism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415552981

0415552982

9780415552967

0415552966

9780203092217

020309221X

OCLC:

320953959

Publisher Number:

99938649774