What does it mean to know something? Can we have confidence in our knowledge?
Epistemology, the study of knowledge, can often seem like a daunting subject. And yet few topics are more basic to human life. We are inquisitive creatures by nature, and the unending quest for truth leads us to raise difficult questions about the quest itself. What are the conditions, sources, and limits of our knowledge? Do our beliefs need to be rationally justified? Can we have certainty?
In this primer on epistemology, James Dew and Mark Foreman guide readers through this discipline in philosophy. This second edition has been expanded with new material and now serves as the first volume in IVP's Questions in Christian Philosophy series. By asking basic questions and using clear, jargon-free language, they provide an entry into one of the most important issues in contemporary philosophy.
The Questions in Christian Philosophy Series features introductory textbooks that offer students a Christian perspective on the various branches of philosophy, enabling them as they seek to understand all facets of life including existence, knowledge, ethics, art, and more.
Cuprins
Series Introduction: Questions in Christian Philosophy
Preface
1. What Is Epistemology?
2. What Is Knowledge?
3. Where Does Knowledge Come From?
4. What Is Truth, and How Do We Find It?
5. What Are Inferences, and How Do They Work?
6. What Do We Perceive?
7. Do We Need Justification?
8. Can We Be Objective in Our View of the World?
9. What Is Virtue Epistemology?
10. Do We Have Revelation?
11. How Certain Can We Be?
For Further Reading
Author Index
Subject Index
Despre autor
Mark W. Foreman (Ph D, religious studies, University of Virginia) is associate professor of philosophy and religion at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is also the author of Christianity and Bioethics: Confronting Clinical Issues.