The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to epistemology:
Epistemology ( theory of knowledge) – branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge.Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 3, 1967, Macmillan, Inc. The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808–1864).Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2007 Epistemology asks questions such as: "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", and "What do people know?"
Core topics of epistemology
Knowledge (outline) Sources of knowledge (Pramana in Sanskrit) Perception Memory Introspection Inference Testimony Types of knowledge Descriptive knowledge"Knowledge that" Procedural knowledge"Knowledge how" Knowledge by acquaintance A priori and a posteriori Analytic–synthetic distinction Gettier problem Justification Regress argument Münchhausen trilemma Theories of justification FoundationalismBasic beliefs justify other, non-basic beliefs. CoherentismBeliefs are justified if they cohere with other beliefs a person holds, each belief is justified if it coheres with the overall system of beliefs. InfinitismBeliefs are justified by infinite chains of reasons. FoundherentismBoth fallible foundations and coherence are components of justification—proposed by Susan Haack. Internalism and externalismThe believer must be able to justify a belief through internal knowledge (internalism), or outside sources of knowledge can be used to justify a belief (externalism). InnatismThe mind is born with knowledge. Reformed epistemologyBeliefs are warranted by proper cognitive function—proposed by Alvin Plantinga. EvidentialismBeliefs depend solely on the evidence for them. ReliabilismA belief is justified if it is the result of a reliable process. InfallibilismKnowledge is incompatible with the possibility of being wrong. FallibilismClaims can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified. Non-justificationismKnowledge is produced by attacking claims and refuting them instead of justifying them. Falsification (Falsifiability) Proof (truth) Standard of proof Truth Criteria of truth Belief Belief revision Virtue epistemology Unity of knowledge and action
Schools of thought
Empiricism Rationalism Epistemological skepticism Pragmatism Naturalized epistemology Contextualism Relativism Constructivist epistemology Idealism Bayesian epistemology Feminist epistemology Innatism Naïve realism Phenomenalism Positivism Critical rationalism
Domains of inquiry in epistemology
Formal epistemologysubdiscipline of epistemology that uses formal methods from logic, probability theory and computability theory to elucidate traditional epistemic problems Computational epistemology Historical epistemologystudy of the historical conditions of, and changes in, different kinds of knowledge Meta-epistemologymetaphilosophical study of the subject, matter, methods and aims of epistemology and of approaches to understanding and structuring knowledge of knowledge itself Social epistemologystudy of collective knowledge and the social dimensions of knowledge
Related fields Philosophy of science Sociology of knowledge
See also Applied epistemology Epistemic logic History of epistemology Personal epistemology
References
Further reading
Ayer, Alfred Jules. 1936. Language, Truth, and Logic. BonJour, Laurence. 2002. Epistemology: Classic Problems and Contemporary Responses. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Bovens, Luc & Hartmann, Stephan. 2003. Bayesian Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Butchvarov, Panayot. 1970. The Concept of Knowledge. Evanston, Northwestern University Press.
Cohen, Stewart. 1999. "Contextualism, Skepticism, and Reasons", in Tomberlin 1999. Dancy, Jonathan. 1991. An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (Second Edition). John Wiley & Sons.
DeRose, Keith. 1999. "Contextualism: An Explanation and Defense ", in Greco and Sosa 1999. Descartes, Rene. 1641. Meditations on First Philosophy Feldman, Richard. 1999. "Contextualism and Skepticism", in Tomberlin 1999, pp. 91–114. Gettier, Edmund. 1963. "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", Analysis, Vol. 23, pp. 121–123. Online text . Greco, J. & Sosa, E. 1999. Blackwell Guide to Epistemology, Blackwell Publishing. Harris, Errol E. 1970. Hypothesis And Perception, George Allen and Unwin, London, Reprinted 2002 Routledge, London.
Hay, Clare. 2008. The Theory of Knowledge: A Coursebook, The Lutterworth Press, Cambridge. 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 Skepticism, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Kyburg, H.E. 1961. Probability and the Logic of Rational Belief, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Korzybski, Alfred. 1994 (1933). Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, Fifth Edition. Ft. Worth, TX: Institute of General Semantics.
Morin, Edgar. 1986. La Méthode, Tome 3, La Connaissance de la connaissance (Method, 3rd volume : The knowledge of knowledge) Morton, Adam. 2002. A Guide Through the Theory of Knowledge (Third Edition) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Nelson, Quee. 2007. The Slightest Philosophy, Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 296 pages. Niiniluoto, Ilkka. 2002. Critical Scientific Realism, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Plato. Meno. Popper, Karl R. 1972. Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Preyer, G./Siebelt, F./Ulfig, A. 1994. Language, Mind and Epistemology, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Russell, Bertrand. 1912. The Problems of Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press. Russell, Bertrand. 1940. An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth, Nottingham: Spokesman Books. Santayana, George. 1923. Scepticism and Animal Faith, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons – London: Constable and Co. Spir, African. 1877. Denken und Wirklichkeit: Versuch einer Erneuerung der kritischen Philosophie (Thought and Reality: Attempt at a Renewal of Critical Philosophy), (Second Edition) Leipzig: J.G. Findel.
Steup, Matthias. 2005. "Knowledge and Skepticism", 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, Frank P. Ramsey and C.K. Ogden (trns.), Dover. Online text .
External links
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles
Encyclopædia Britannica Epistemology by Avrum Stroll and A.P. Martinich
Other links The London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject: Epistemology & Methodology
Knowledge-How at Philpapers
What Is Epistemology? – a brief introduction to the topic by Keith DeRose. Epistemology Introduction, Part 1 and Part 2 by Paul Newall at the Galilean Library. Teaching Theory of Knowledge (1986) – Marjorie Clay (ed.), an electronic publication from The Council for Philosophical Studies. An Introduction to Epistemology by Paul Newall, aimed at beginners. A Summary of Sunni Epistemology A concise and accessible introduction to epistemology in the Muslim world for laymen