Knowledge and Skepticism (Topics in Contemporary Philosophy)

New essays by leading philosophers explore topics in epistemology, offering both contemporary philosophical analysis and historical perspectives.

There are two main questions in epistemology: What is knowledge? And: Do we have any of it? The first question asks after the nature of a concept; the second involves grappling with the skeptic, who believes that no one knows anything. This collection of original essays addresses the themes of knowledge and skepticism, offering both contemporary epistemological analysis and historical perspectives from leading philosophers and rising scholars. Contributors first consider knowledge: the intrinsic nature of knowledge--in particular, aspects of what distinguishes knowledge from true belief; the extrinsic examination of knowledge, focusing on contextualist accounts; and types of knowledge, specifically perceptual, introspective, and rational knowledge. The final chapters offer various perspectives on skepticism. Knowledge and Skepticism provides an eclectic yet coherent set of essays by distinguished scholars and important new voices. The cutting-edge nature of its contributions and its interdisciplinary character make it a valuable resource for a wide audience--for philosophers of language as well as for epistemologists, and for psychologists, decision theorists, historians, and students at both the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

Contributors
Kent Bach, Joseph Keim Campbell, Joseph Cruz, Fred Dretske, Catherine Z. Elgin, Peter S. Fosl, Peter J. Graham, David Hemp, Michael O'Rourke, George Pappas, John L. Pollock, Duncan Pritchard, Joseph Salerno, Robert J. Stainton, Harry S. Silverstein, Joseph Thomas Tolliver, Leora Weitzman

Joseph Keim Campbell is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Washington State University.

Michael O'Rourke is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University.

Harry S. Silverstein is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at Washington State University, and coeditor of three previous volumes in the Topics in Contemporary Philosophy series, Causation and Explanation (2007), Knowledge and Skepticism (2010), and Time and Identity (2010), all published by the MIT Press.

Kent Bach is Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University.

Robert J. Stainton is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Western Ontario.