Epistemology: An Anthology

by Ernest Sosa (Editor), Jaegwon Kim (Editor), Matthew McGrath (Assistant Editor)

This volume represents the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of canonical readings in theory of knowledge. It is ideal as a reader for all courses in epistemology.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference, Anthologies

600 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Amelia and John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a huge anthology that we read from in class.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that there are some really good gems in here. I really liked the paper on infinitism, as most of the conversation I’ve heard about it tends to reject infinitism as a viable option for how we justify knowledge, instead opting for either foundationalism or coherentism. I also liked the contextualist articles and one of the externalist articles.

I also want to post-preface this review by saying that epistemology is not my forte.

Now for the review. It was sad reading most of these articles, mostly because I couldn’t grasp the depth of them, but also because there is so much that leads me to doubt that there was depth to them. The verbosity and technicality really defeated the initial wonder that I had of epistemology when I first started studying philosophy. It did not turn out to be the exciting adventure into “do we really know what we think we know?” It seemed like many of these articles were overplayed (often referring to Cartesian certainty again and again and again) or just plain hopeless (with many simply accepting that we can’t REALLY know anything and opting for the next best thing). The latter articles made me particularly unhappy.

Anyways, I don’t really recommend this book almost at all. Of all the course textbooks I’ve read, this was definitely one of them. Maybe I didn’t like it because I’m not an epistemologist. Or maybe I am. How should I know? (Cue outro.)

[Cassidy Brinn]

Sosa, Raft & Pyramid
I love the dialogue form of the back and forth between foundationalists and coherentists, but it does muddle things. Then the appendix, oy, that needed to be way clearer, particularly in differentiating his virtue reliabilist story from the failings of the two traditional contenders.

Gettier, Is justified true belief knowledge?
Unbelievable. My jaw dropped at the smallness, the modesty of it. Two pages, two examples. Gettier was 36 when he wrote it, and hasn't published since. Is it a good thing he wrote it? Probably. As long as it eventually gets Angloamerican analysts to notice the effect of social and diachronic concerns on justification.

Sellars, Does empirical knowledge have a foundation?
Davidson, A coherence theory of truth and knowledge
McDowell, Knowledge and the Internal
Stich, Reflection equilibrium, analytic epistemology, and the problem of cognitive diversity

[Alexander Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know more about contemporary thoughts on Epistemology this has the basics. You get your G.E. Moore, Gettier and of course Sosa (It's easy to get in an anthology if you are the editor). It's a good introduction! Don't stop there though in your studies of Epistemology.

[Michaël]

What would it mean for me to rate a collection of works on the convoluted and endlessly difficult to follow realm of epistemology? Nothing, it wouldn't mean anything.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read every article, *except* those in the last section. I should do that sometime, but I never get around to it. Any how, this is an excellent resource. It contains leading contemporary articles in the field, namely the ones that reshaped the field.

[Alexandre Guay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compilation idéale de textes classiques. À conseiller aux étudiants.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the epistemology you could ever want and more.

[Ebnarabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must....

[Krollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read Gettier here, and it was pretty good. I feel I need a better understanding of epistemology for this - I'll read Meno and come back to it, and perhaps some Hume.

[Lulu]

Epistemology anthology