Synopses & Reviews
1. General Outline
I propose to divide the second edition into four parts:
* Review Essays
* Self-Portraits
* Paradoxes
* Epistemology from a to Z
Part I would consist of ten review essays on central topics in epistemology. The purpose of these essays would be to introduce the reader to the main issues within the topic at hand, and to review the relevant literature on that topic, with a particular emphasis on the past 10-15 years. Each essay may reflect, and to some extent defend, a particular point of view, but the authors would be urged to keep in mind that the primary function of these essays would be clarification and exposition. Specific topics are suggested below. In parentheses, I have suggested authors for invitation. I suggest a maximal length of 6000 words for each of these essays.
Part II would bring together 20 self-portraits of leading epistemologists. The criteria for selecting whom to invite would be as follows: The invitee should
* be at least 50 years old,
* have produced a large body of distinctively epistemological work,
* and be widely recognized and respected for distinctively epistemological contributions.
The contributors for this section should be given a limit of 3000 words.
Part III collects the various entries on paradoxes from the first edition. Each author in this section would be asked to consider updating/revising his contribution. (Should Russell's Paradox and the Liar Paradox be included? They are not distinctively epistemological. On the other hand, their inclusion would nicely round up this section.) [In light of reviewers comments, I suggest we drop this as a separate section, and incorporate the essays as A-Z entries. NGB]
Part IV would consist of the 267 entries of the first edition, as listed below. Of these, 52 are flagged with an '*'. I propose to invite the authors of flagged entries to update or rewrite their entries in light of the literature of the past 10-15 years. I also propose to add 17 new entries:
* basic beliefs
* circularity in epistemology
* closure, epistemic
* conversational implicature
* counterfactuals
* deontology, epistemic (Sharon Ryan)
* epistemology, contemporary (Bruce Russell)
* epistemology, the history of
* evidentialism (Rich Feldman or Earl Conee)
* intuition in epistemology
* knowledge and modality (Keith De Rose)
* knowledge and vagueness
* knowledge as the norm of assertion (Timothy Williamson, Duncan Prichard)
* sensitivity and safety (Noah Lemos)
* speckled hen, the problem of (Noah Lemos)
* voluntarism, doxastic (Sharon Ryan)
* zebras and cleverly disguised mules (Mylan Engel. The purpose of this entry is to ensure that there will be at least on entry in the Z section. It should briefly explain closure failure (Dretske), the relevance of the example within the contextualist literature, and perhaps the kind of skepticism that's based not on classical skeptical alternatives like the BIV hypothesis, but instead on what Hawthorne calls 'lottery propositions'.)
In the list of entries below, the new entries are highlighted by italics. I propose to include, at the beginning of this section, a list of the entries, which in each case indicates the name of the entry, its author, and the page number on which it can be found.
Since Blackwell plans to make the Companion available on-line, I would assume that the new content will initially be published on Blackwell's web site as it becomes available, and that the print version of the second edition will be produced when the on-line version is complete.
Review
"This excellent new edition of
A Companion to Epistemology offers a thoroughly comprehensive, authoritative and cutting-edge overview of the field. It will, I'm sure, be indispensable to those working in this area for many years to come."
—Duncan Pritchard, University of Edinburgh
“A comprehensive guide to epistemology. The new sections and enlargements make the Companion unique among guides to epistemology. I recommend it highly to students as well as seasoned epistemologists.”
—Matthew McGrath, University of Missouri
Synopsis
Fully extended and revised, A Companion to Epistemology 2nd Edition includes a new section of detailed review essays, self-portraits of leading epistemologists and an up-to-date A-Z section consisting of nearly three hundred essays.
The most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume reference guide on epistemology Comprised of over 280 A-Z entries from leading experts that have been extensively revised to bring the volume up-to-date, with many new and re-written entries reflecting developments in the field Includes new self-profile section with 20 entries by renowned epistemologists
Synopsis
With nearly 300 entries on key concepts, review essays on central issues, and self-profiles by leading scholars, this companion is the most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume reference guide to epistemology.
- Epistemology from A-Z is comprised of 296 articles on important epistemological concepts that have been extensively revised to bring the volume up-to-date, with many new and re-written entries reflecting developments in the field
- Includes 20 new self-profiles by leading epistemologists
- Contains 10 new review essays on central issues of epistemology
Synopsis
Since its first publication,
A Companion to Epistemology has established itself as the leading single-volume epistemology reference work in the field. This extended and revised edition brings the companion up to date. Part I, consisting of newly commissioned review essays, focuses on the major topics that have an abiding centrality for the field, including a priori justification, Bayesian epistemology, closure, contextualism, epistemic virtue, internalism vs. externalism, foundationalism vs. coherentism, perception, scepticism, and social epistemology. Part II brings together twenty self-portraits of leading epistemologists who are widely recognized and respected for their contributions to the field, including Fred Dretske, Alvin Goldman, Gilbert Harman, Alvin Plantinga, John Pollock, Timothy Williamson, and Linda Zagzebski. The content of the first edition is retained in Part III: Epistemology from A–Z. This section of nearly 300 entries has been extensively revised, with many new and rewritten entries reflecting recent developments in the field.
Written by leading experts, the entries in this comprehensive volume combine to form a complete and up-to-date reference guide for students and professionals alike.
Synopsis
Jonathan Dancy is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of
Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (Blackwell, 1985),
Berkeley (1987),
Moral Reasons (Blackwell, 1992) and
Ethics without Principles (2004).
Ernest Sosa is Board of Governors Professor at Rutgers University. He is the author of Epistemic Justification: Internalism vs. Externalism, Foundations vs. Virtues (together with Laurence BonJour) in the Wiley-Blackwell series Great Debates in Philosophy (2003), A Virtue Epistemology; Apt Belief and Reflective Knowledge, Volume I (2007), and Reflective Knowledge; Apt Belief and Reflective Knowledge, Volume II (2009). His publications also include his replies for the volume Sosa and His Critics (edited by John Greco, 2004) in the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophers and Their Critics, as well as numerous articles.
Matthias Steup is Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University. He is the author of An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (1996) and many articles in epistemology. He edited Knowledge, Truth, and Duty: Essays on Epistemic Justification, Responsibility, and Virtue (2001), and he is co-editor with Ernest Sosa of Contemporary Debates in Epistemology (Blackwell, 2005).
About the Author
"Recommended. Libraries supporting lower-level undergraduates through graduate students". (Choice, October 2010)
Table of Contents
List of Contributors xiii
Preface to the First Edition xix
Preface to the Second Edition xxiii
Part I Ten Review Essays 1
Skepticism and Closure Anthony Brueckner 3
Contextualism Richard Feldman 12
Foundations and Coherence Michael Huemer 22
Recent Work on the Internalism–Externalism Controversy Laurence BonJour 33
A Priori Knowledge Albert Casullo 43
The Common Sense Tradition Noah Lemos 53
The Power of Perception Peter Markie 62
Virtue Epistemology John Greco 75
Social Epistemology Alvin Goldman 82
Bayesian Epistemology Alan Hájek and Stephan Hartmann 93
Part II Twenty Epistemological Self-profiles 107
Robert Audi 109
Laurence BonJour 114
Stewart Cohen 118
Earl Conee and Richard Feldman 123
Fred Dretske 130
Richard Foley 134
Richard Fumerton 139
Alvin I. Goldman 144
Gilbert Harman 152
Peter Klein 156
Hilary Kornblith 163
Keith Lehrer 168
Alvin Plantinga 173
John Pollock 178
Ernest Sosa 185
Barry Stroud 190
Michael Williams 194
Timothy Williamson 199
Crispin Wright 204
Linda Zagzebski 210
Part III Epistemology from A to Z 217