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Modern Epistemology: A New Introduction
"A welcome and fresh addition to a market that has been dominated by rather traditional texts...instructors will enjoy teaching with it in their classrooms" -- Teaching Philosophy, March 1998. This text offers an exceptionally lucid account of how philosophers in the 20th century have challenged the ideas of "modern" philosophers (17th century) on fundamental questions in epistemology (theory of Knowledge). Numerous examples are used to help undergraduates grasp the material. Self-study questions and further readings are included. The book sets out the traditional view that knowledge is justified true belief and then presents Gettier's challenge to this theory. Three alternative accounts of knowledge--the "reliable method" account, the "casual" account, and Nozick's "tracking" account--are examined. Fisher and Everitt argue in favor of attending to justified belief rather than knowledge and present a view which tentatively favors a "casual" theory of justified belief. Next the authors assess and reject "foundationalism," a popular position in modern philosophy. Though foundationalism about empirical beliefs is commonly discussed in textbooks, this book is unique in giving foundationalism about a priori beliefs equal and expert consideration. In the second half of the book the authors present alternatives to modern epistemology, including coherentism, Quine's "naturalized epistemology," and Rorty's critique. These discussions are undertaken with a great deal of sensitivity to the needs of the beginning student of epistemology.
- GenresPhilosophy
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 2, 2024
"Modern Epistemology: A New Introduction" by Nicholas Everitt & Alec Fisher is an introductory work on epistemology by two atheist philosophers, which seeks to equip the reader with a working understanding of the current, modern state of the field.
I appreciated how well-organized each chapter is by way of the headers within each chapter, which make it fairly easy to navigate and reference their contents. The Exercises at the end of each chapter were a great addition as well, as they really do help the reader to remember and engage actively with the content, whether one actually writes down one's answers to the questions posed therein or simply discusses the questions with a friend after reading (myself favoring the latter during my read-thru).
The book was a fascinating read and I really appreciated how direct the writers are when explaining each topic at hand -- there isn't much fluff at all by way of tangentially-related personal anecdotes or stories, as a lot of books nowadays tend to have. Although, I can cetainly see a different sort of reader struggling with that literary choice.
The book does not present a walk through the history of philosophy, and instead opts for presenting the concepts it dicusses broadly on their own terms, citing scholarly materials when necessary and providing a clear picture of each, but not tracing out in detail, say, the historic development of thought from the ancients to today that lead to the current state of the question. Instead, the reader gets what the title suggests -- a new introduction to the modern state of these concepts by way of summarization by two subject-matter experts.
There were certainly several times where I wished the authors had explained a given topic at an even deeper level (especially when addressing back-and-forth objections and rebuttals for coherentism, for example); however, that's not a big knock against the book as it is meant to be an introduction, after all. The authors do a good job of including recommended reading for each section, should one desire to chase down some of these topics further.
Most fascinating to me were the chapters laying out, comparing, and contrasting the Foundationalist & Coherentist theories of Justification. I will add, as a Christian myself, that I think there are some inherent limitations to unbelieving epistemological models, which I think the Christian worldview has the right tools to solve -- but that's a discussion much too long for a review comment section!
As I embark in my own epistemological research journey, I am glad to have run into this introductory work and would certainly recommend it to those looking for a direct, lucid, secular introduction to the subject matter.
I appreciated how well-organized each chapter is by way of the headers within each chapter, which make it fairly easy to navigate and reference their contents. The Exercises at the end of each chapter were a great addition as well, as they really do help the reader to remember and engage actively with the content, whether one actually writes down one's answers to the questions posed therein or simply discusses the questions with a friend after reading (myself favoring the latter during my read-thru).
The book was a fascinating read and I really appreciated how direct the writers are when explaining each topic at hand -- there isn't much fluff at all by way of tangentially-related personal anecdotes or stories, as a lot of books nowadays tend to have. Although, I can cetainly see a different sort of reader struggling with that literary choice.
The book does not present a walk through the history of philosophy, and instead opts for presenting the concepts it dicusses broadly on their own terms, citing scholarly materials when necessary and providing a clear picture of each, but not tracing out in detail, say, the historic development of thought from the ancients to today that lead to the current state of the question. Instead, the reader gets what the title suggests -- a new introduction to the modern state of these concepts by way of summarization by two subject-matter experts.
There were certainly several times where I wished the authors had explained a given topic at an even deeper level (especially when addressing back-and-forth objections and rebuttals for coherentism, for example); however, that's not a big knock against the book as it is meant to be an introduction, after all. The authors do a good job of including recommended reading for each section, should one desire to chase down some of these topics further.
Most fascinating to me were the chapters laying out, comparing, and contrasting the Foundationalist & Coherentist theories of Justification. I will add, as a Christian myself, that I think there are some inherent limitations to unbelieving epistemological models, which I think the Christian worldview has the right tools to solve -- but that's a discussion much too long for a review comment section!
As I embark in my own epistemological research journey, I am glad to have run into this introductory work and would certainly recommend it to those looking for a direct, lucid, secular introduction to the subject matter.
January 16, 2019
As a basic introduction to the epistemological issues, this is a good text but you still need to read more widely to understand the epistemological arguments.
This could be read in one sitting but in reality, you want to keep coming back to it and then follow the references to verify your understanding.
This could be read in one sitting but in reality, you want to keep coming back to it and then follow the references to verify your understanding.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews