Ernest Sosa - Epistemology: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide

EPISTEMOLOGY

OXFORD BIBLIOGRAPHIES ONLINE RESEARCH GUIDE

Ernest Sosa

Rutgers University

2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc.

ISBN: 9780199808779

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OXFORD BIBLIOGRAPHIES ONLINE RESEARCH GUIDE

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OXFORD BIBLIOGRAPHIES ONLINE | Philosophy

Authority and Innovation for Scholarly Research Written by a leading international authority and bearing the Oxford University Press stamp of excellence, this article is a definitive guide to the most important resources on the topic. The article combines annotated citations, expert recommendations, and narrative pathways through the most important scholarly sources in both print and online formats. All materials recommended in this article were reviewed by the author, and the article has been organized in tiers ranging from general to highly specialized, saving valuable time by allowing researchers to easily narrow or broaden their focus among only the most trusted scholarly sources. This is just one of many articles within the subject area of Atlantic History, which is itself just one of the many subjects covered by Oxford Bibliographies Onlinea revolutionary resource designed to cut through academic information overload by guiding researchers to exactly the right book chapter, journal article, website, archive, or data set they need.

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INTRODUCTION

Much epistemological work in the Western tradition focuses on the nature of knowledge its sources, significance, and scope. But justified belief, epistemic virtue and responsibility, understanding, and evidence are epistemologically important, and not just because of the role they play in knowledge. The readings in this section represent the most recent influential work, as of the first decade of the 21st century, on the range of issues covered by General Epistemology.

TEXTBOOKS

Whether one is a professor looking to design a course in epistemology or a student looking to see what the discipline has to offer, the quickest way to do so can be with a textbook. Most textbooks do not get into all the possible details on the various objections and moves that are made within each epistemological subdiscipline; however, textbooks can provide a helpful overview of the epistemological terrain. And some upper-level textbooks can even advance the field in their own right.

Topical Textbooks

If you are not looking for a general overview of epistemology but are more interested in the state of a more limited sub-area, there are a number of textbooks that concentrate their energy in a more focused way. Some do so by concentrating on the methodology of epistemology, as Tanesini 1999 does in exploring how feminist issues are brought to bear on epistemology. Others emphasize particular epistemological subject matter, as Wood 1998 does in its focus on religious epistemology. And still others limit their discussion to various historical eras, as Everson 1990 and Gerson 2009 do in exploring epistemological thought in the ancient world.

Everson, Stephen. Epistemology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

An introduction to epistemological thought from the 6th century BCE to the 3rd century AD .

Gerson, Lloyd P. Ancient Epistemology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

An accessible introduction to epistemology from the time of the pre-Socratics to the early Platonists.

Tanesini, Alessandra. An Introduction to Feminist Epistemologies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

An introduction to the ways in which some epistemologists have argued that gender and race might be relevant to epistemological issues.

Wood, W. Jay. Epistemology: Becoming Intellectually Virtuous. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998.

An introduction to a wide range of epistemological issues, with some emphasis on the epistemology of religious belief.

General Textbooks

Most epistemology textbooks cover the whole range of current epistemological issues. Although there are often differences in emphasis (e.g., BonJour 2002 places greater emphasis on historical treatments than does Dancy 1991) and in what topics are covered (e.g., Audi 2002 has sections on virtue epistemology and feminist epistemology that are not found in all other volumes, and Feldman 2003 has a nice section on philosophy and science), you can expect a standard epistemology textbook to include discussions of skepticism, the structure of justification, the analysis of knowledge, and debates about a priori knowledge. Some textbooks (e.g., Williams 2001, Dancy 1991) are more argumentativethey present and argue for their own positions on controversial viewswhereas others (e.g., Audi 2002, Fisher and Everitt 1994, Fumerton 2006) are content to present the difficulties with all the various positions without coming to a conclusion of their own. Textbooks also differ in their target audiencei.e., introductory or advanced students. Fisher and Everitt 1994, Dancy 1991, and Williams 2001 can all safely be used in advanced epistemology seminars, whereas Fumerton 2006 and Morton 2002 are targeted at beginning students. Audi 2002 and BonJour 2002 are designed for midlevel students with some background in epistemology but not necessarily any training in epistemology per se.

Audi, Robert. Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge . London: Routledge, 2002.

A longer introduction that includes discussion of a range of issues, including virtue epistemology and feminist epistemology.

BonJour, Laurence. Epistemology: Classic Problems and Contemporary Responses . New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.

A midlength introduction, with some emphasis on historical treatments of the issues.

Dancy, Jonathan. Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology . Oxford: Blackwell, 1991.

An introduction to more recent epistemological thought that also defends a coherent position of its own.

Feldman, Richard. Epistemology . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

A clear and readable introduction by a leading evidentialist.

Fisher, Alec, and Nicholas Everitt. Modern Epistemology: A New Introduction . New York: McGraw Hill, 1994.