What is this thing called Knowledge? 2nd Edition

198 Pages·2009·2.03 MB·English

by  Duncan Pritchard

what is this thing
called knowledge?
Praise for first edition:
‘...a valuable addition ...a book that sets things out in a clear and elementary
way,while still covering the ground properly.’
Finn Spicer,University of Bristol,UK
‘Clearly laid out,well organized and written by a true expert.’
Michael Lynch,University of Connecticut,USA
What is knowledge? Where does it come from? Can we know anything at all?
This lucid and engaging introduction grapples with these central questions in the
theory of knowledge,offering a clear,non-partisan view of the main themes of episte-
mology.Both traditional issues and contemporary ideas are discussed in fourteen easily
digestible sections,which conclude with a useful summary of the main ideas discussed,
study questions,annotated further reading and a guide to internet resources.
The second edition has been revised and updated throughout and features:

• a new chapter on moral knowledge;
• a glossary of epistemology examples;
• annotated advanced further reading including more scholarly references;
• updated web resources.
Each chapter also features text boxes providing bite-sized summaries of key concepts
and major philosophers, and clear and interesting examples are used throughout,
making this an ideal first textbook in the theory of knowledge for undergraduates
coming to philosophy for the first time.
Duncan Pritchard holds the Chair in Epistemology at the University of Edinburgh,
UK.His main research area is epistemology,and he has published widely in this field,
including the books Epistemic Luck (2005) and Knowledge(2009).

DUNCAN PRITCHARD
what is this
thing called
knowledge?
Second edition
First published 2006
This edition published 2010 by Routledge
2 Park Square,Milton Park,Abingdon,Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2010 Duncan Pritchard
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,or other means,now
known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording,or in
any information storage or retrieval system,without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Pritchard,Duncan.
What is this thing called knowledge?/Duncan Pritchard.– 2nd ed.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

1.Knowledge,Theory of.I.Title.
BD161.P749 2009
121–dc22 2009018683
ISBN 0-203-85248-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10:0–415–55296–6 (hbk)
ISBN10:0–415–55298–2 (pbk)
ISBN10:0–203–09221–X (ebk)
ISBN13:978–0–415–55296–7 (hbk)
ISBN13:978–0–415–55298–1 (pbk)
ISBN13:978–0–203–09221–7 (ebk)
For Mandi, Ethan and Alexander

CONTENTS
Preface to the second edition x
How to use this book xi
PART I: WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE? 1
1 Some preliminaries 3
TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE 3
TWO BASIC REQUIREMENTS ON KNOWLEDGE: TRUTH AND BELIEF 4
KNOWING VERSUS MERELY ‘GETTING IT RIGHT’ 5
A BRIEF REMARK ON TRUTH 7
2 The value of knowledge 10
WHY CARE ABOUT KNOWLEDGE? 10
THE INSTRUMENTAL VALUE OF TRUE BELIEF 10
THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE 12
THE STATUES OF DAEDALUS 14
IS SOME KNOWLEDGE INTRINSICALLY VALUABLE? 15
3 Defining knowledge 20
THE PROBLEM OF THE C RITERION 20
METHODISM AND PARTICULARISM 21
KNOWLEDGE AS JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEF 23
GETTIER CASES 23
RESPONDING TO THE GETTIER CASES 26
BACK TO THE PROBLEM OF THE CRITERION 28
4 The structure of knowledge 31
KNOWLEDGE AND JUSTIFICATION 31
THE ENIGMATIC NATURE OF JUSTIFICATION 31
AGRIPPA’S TRILEMMA 33
INFINITISM 34
COHERENTISM 35
FOUNDATIONALISM 36
viii• contents
5 Rationality 42
RATIONALITY, JUSTIFICATION, AND KNOWLEDGE 42
EPISTEMIC RATIONALITY AND THE GOAL OF TRUTH 43
THE GOAL(S) OF EPISTEMIC RATIONALITY 45
THE (UN)IMPORTANCE OF EPISTEMIC RATIONALITY 46
RATIONALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 47
EPISTEMIC INTERNALISM/EXTERNALISM 49
6 Virtues and faculties 55
RELIABILISM 55
A ‘GETTIER’ PROBLEM FOR RELIABILISM 56
VIRTUE EPISTEMOLOGY 57
VIRTUE EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE EXTERNALISM/INTERNALISM DISTINCTION 60
PART II: WHERE DOES KNOWLEDGE COME FROM? 67
7 Perception 69
THE PROBLEM OF PERCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE 69
INDIRECT REALISM 71
IDEALISM 73
TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM 74
DIRECT REALISM 76
8 Testimony and memory 80
THE PROBLEM OF TESTIMONIAL KNOWLEDGE 80
REDUCTIONISM 82
CREDULISM 84
THE PROBLEM OF MEMORIAL KNOWLEDGE 86

9 A priority and inference 91
A PRIORI AND EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE 91
THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF A PRIORI AND EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE 92
INTROSPECTIVE KNOWLEDGE 93
DEDUCTION 94
INDUCTION 95
ABDUCTION 96
10 The problem of induction 101
THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION 101
RESPONDING TO THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION 103
LIVING WITH THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION I: FALSIFICATION 103
LIVING WITH THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION II: PRAGMATISM 107
contents •ix
11 A case study: moral knowledge 112
THE PROBLEM OF MORAL KNOWLEDGE 112
SCEPTICISM ABOUT MORAL FACTS 112
SCEPTICISM ABOUT MORAL KNOWLEDGE 116
THE NATURE OF MORAL KNOWLEDGE I: CLASSICAL FOUNDATIONALISM 118
THE NATURE OF MORAL KNOWLEDGE II: ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS 120
PART III: DO WE KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL? 127
12 Scepticism about other minds 129
THE PROBLEM OF OTHER MINDS 129
THE ARGUMENT FROM ANALOGY 130
A PROBLEM FOR THE ARGUMENT FROM ANALOGY 131
TWO VERSIONS OF THE PROBLEM OF OTHER MINDS 132
PERCEIVING SOMEONE ELSE’S MIND 134
13 Radical scepticism 137
THE RADICAL SCEPTICAL PARADOX 137
SCEPTICISM AND CLOSURE 140
MOOREANISM 142
CONTEXTUALISM 145
14 Truth and objectivity 151
OBJECTIVITY, ANTI-REALISM, AND SCEPTICISM 151
TRUTH AS THE GOAL OF INQUIRY 152
AUTHENTICITY AND THE VALUE OF TRUTH 154
RELATIVISM 155
General further reading 159

Glossary of terms 163
Glossary of key examples 179
Index 182