Virtue Epistemology: Essays in Epistemic Virtue and Responsibility

257 Pages·2001·2.51 MB·english

by  Abrol Fairweather

virtue epistemology
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virtue epistemology
Essays on Epistemic Virtue
and Responsibility
Edited by
Abrol Fairweather &
Linda Zagzebski
1
2001
3
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2001 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Virtue epistemology : essays on epistemic virtue and responsibility /
edited by Abrol Fairweather and Linda Zagzebski.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-514077-X
1. Virtue epistemology. I. Fairweather, Abrol. II. Zagzebski,
Linda Trinkaus, 1946–
BD176 .V57 2000
121—dc21 00-061152
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
acknowledgments
Earlier forms of ten of the thirteen essays in this collection were presented
at a conference on Virtue and Duty in Epistemology at Santa Barbara City College,
November 12–14, 1999. The editors wish to thank Dr. Joseph White, Chair of the
SBCC Philosophy Department, Aleksander Jokic and Jim Chesher at the Center for
Philosophical Education, and the Matchette Foundation and the Ray Stark Foun-
dation for their generous financial support.
The Center for Philosophical Education (CPE) has been in operation since 1996
and has sponsored six philosophical conferences, all on the campus of Santa Barbara
City College and all leading to the publication of book collections. In the spring of
1998 Abrol Fairweather, member of the CPE Steering Committee, invited Linda
Zagzebski to help organize the conference on Virtue and Duty in Epistemology and
to negotiate the publication of the essays. The resulting collection, under the co-
editorship of Fairweather and Zagzebski, includes essays by three of the respon-
dents at the conference. The editors are grateful to all of the respondents and the
many members of the audience at the conference for the stimulating discussions fol-
lowing the papers. The impressive collection of scholars and the generous and beau-
tiful accommodations at SBCC that weekend made for a rewarding exchange of
ideas that improved the essays presented here.
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contents
Contributors, ix
1 Introduction, 3
Linda Zagzebski and Abrol Fairweather, 3
2 Reason, Virtue, and Knowledge, 15
Simon Blackburn
3 The Unity of the Epistemic Virtues, 30
Alvin I. Goldman
4 For the Love of Truth? 49
Ernest Sosa
5 Epistemic Motivation, 63
Abrol Fairweather
6 Epistemic Virtue and Justified Belief, 82
Robert Audi
7 Thin Concepts to the Rescue: Thinning the Concepts of Epistemic
Justification and Intellectual Virtue, 98
Heather D. Battaly
8 Virtues and Rules in Epistemology, 117
John Greco
9 Must Knowers Be Agents? 142
Linda Zagzebski
10 Epistemic Luck in Light of the Virtues, 158
Guy Axtell
11 Epistemic Akrasiaand Epistemic Virtue, 178
Christopher Hookway
12 The Virtue of Knowledge, 200
Keith Lehrer
13 The Foundational Role of Epistemology in a
General Theory of Rationality, 214
Richard Foley
14 Epistemic Obligation and the Possibility of Internalism, 231
Hilary Kornblith
Index, 249
viii contents
contributors
Robert Audi, Charles J. Mach Distinguished Professor, University of Nebraska–
Lincoln
Guy Axtell, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, University of Nevada–Reno
Heather D. Battaly, Instructor of Philosophy, California State University, Fullerton
Simon Blackburn, Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Univer-
sity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Abrol Fairweather, Instructor of Philosophy, University of San Francisco
Richard Foley, Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences, New York University
Alvin I. Goldman, Regents Professor of Philosophy and Research Professor of
Cognitive Science, University of Arizona
John Greco, Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University
Christopher Hookway, Professor of Philosophy, University of Sheffield
Hilary Kornblith, Professor of Philosophy, University of Vermont
Keith Lehrer, Regents Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona
Ernest Sosa, Romeo Elton Professor of Natural Theology and Professor of
Philosophy, Brown University. Distinguished Visiting Professor, Rutgers
University
Linda Zagzebski, Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
and Professor of Philosophy, University of Oklahoma
ix