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Epistemology

Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of Western philosophy that studies the nature and scope of knowledge and belief. The term "epistemology" is based on the Greek words  or episteme" (knowledge) and "λόγος or logos" (account/explanation); it is thought to have been coined by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier. In Indian philosophy, the Sanskrit term for the equivalent branch of study is "pramana."

Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. In other words, epistemology primarily addresses the following questions: "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", and "What do people know?".

There are many different topics, stances, and arguments in the field of epistemology. Recent studies have dramatically challenged centuries-old assumptions, and the discipline therefore continues to be vibrant and dynamic.
 

Books


Annis, David. 1978. "A Contextualist Theory of Epistemic Justification", in American Philosophical Quarterly, 15: 213-219.
Boufoy-Bastick, Z. 2005. "Introducing 'Applicable Knowledge' as a Challenge to the Attainment of Absolute Knowledge", Sophia Journal of Philosophy, 8: 39-51. Online PDF.
Bovens, Luc & Hartmann, Stephan. 2003. Bayesian Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Butchvarov, Panayot. 1970. The Concept of Knowledge. Evanston, Northwestern University Press.
Cohen, Stewart. 1998. "Contextualist Solutions to Epistemological Problems: Scepticism, Gettier, and the Lottery." Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 76: 289-306.
Cohen Stewart. 1999. "Contextualism, Skepticism, and Reasons", in Tomberlin 1999.
DeRose, Keith. 1992. "Contextualism and Knowledge Attributions", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 15: 213-19.
DeRose, Keith. 1999. "Contextualism: An Explanation and Defense", in Greco and Sosa 1999.
Feldman, Richard. 1999. "Contextualism and Skepticism", in Tomberlin 1999, pp. 91-114.
Gettier, Edmund. 1963. "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", Analysis, Vol. 23, pp. 121-23. Online text.
Greco, J. & Sosa, E. 1999. Blackwell Guide to Epistemology, Blackwell Publishing.
Hawthorne, John. 2005. "The Case for Closure", Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, Peter Sosa and Matthias Steup (ed.): 26-43.
Hendricks, Vincent F. 2006. Mainstream and Formal Epistemology, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kant, Immanuel. 1781. Critique of Pure Reason
Keeton, Morris T. 1962. "Empiricism", in Dictionary of Philosophy, Dagobert D. Runes (ed.), Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ, pp. 89–90.
Kirkham, Richard. 1984. "Does the Gettier Problem Rest on a Mistake?" Mind, 93.
Klein, Peter. 1981. Certainty: a Refutation of Scepticism, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Kyburg, H.E. 1961. Probability and the Logic of Rational Belief, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Lewis, David. 1996. "Elusive Knowledge." Australian Journal of Philosophy, 74, 549-67.
Preyer, G./Siebelt, F./Ulfig, A. 1994. Language, Mind and Epistemology, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Rand, Ayn. 1979. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, New York: Meridian. Online text.
Russell, Bertrand. 1912. The Problems of Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press. Online text.
Schiffer, Stephen. 1996. "Contextualist Solutions to Scepticism", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 96:317-33.
Steup, Matthias. 2005. "Knowledge and Scepticism", Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, Peter Sosa and Matthias Steup (eds.): 1-13.
Tomberlin, James (ed.). 1999. Philosophical Perspectives 13, Epistemology, Blackwell Publishing.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1922. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, C.K. Ogden (trns.), Dover.

 
 
 

   

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