Knowledge: Readings in Contemporary Epistemology

by Fred I. Dretske

Book Overview

In this anthology, distinguished editors Sven Bernecker and Fred Dretske offer the most comprehensive review available of contemporary epistemology. They bring together the most important and influential writings in the field, including selections that cover frequently neglected topics such as dominant responses to skepticism, introspection, memory, and testimony. Knowledge is divided into fifteen subject areas and includes forty-one readings by eminent contributors. An accessible introduction to each subject area outlines the problems discussed in the essays that follow so that students can focus on analyzing them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019875261X
• ISBN13: 9780198752615
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Length: 606 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Good introduction to academic philosopher's approach to Epistemology

This large collection of essays is a very thorough examination of the contemporary views on knowledge held by professional philosophers. My purpose in purchasing this was to get a better idea of what problems epistemologists are grappling with in today's philosophy programs. In this respect, the book is all I could ask for. Most of the major positions on knowledge are presented through the important essays of their leading advocates. Bottom line: If you are looking to quickly understand the lay-of-the-land in the debate about knowledge, this book is recommended.

How we know what we know - or why we shouldn't know what we know

This is a fabulous text on epistemology. There are 41 articles divided into five parts: Justified True Belief, Externalism and Internalism, Foundations and Norms, Scepticism, and Sources of Knowledge. This book was one of a couple books required for my "Theories of Knowledge and Reality" class that I took in undergraduate school. I have not read every artical in the book but I have read many to most of them. Some of the brightest philosophers are featured in this text: Dretske, Putnam, and Quine. Some of the most interesting and best presented arguments are "Knowledge and Scepticism," by Robert Nozick; "Brains in a Vat," by Hilary Putnam; and "A Priori Knowledge, necessity, and contingency," by Saul Kripke. With such a wide range of topics that cover the vast range of epistemology discussed inside this book, the quality of the authors, and of course, the foundations and sound arguments made, I consider this a complete text on philosophy. It is possible and plausible that you, as the reader, may have read some of these articles before. However, it is a good compilation all in one edition. I also recommend "Metaphysics: An Anthology," edited by Jaegwon Kim and Ernest Sosa. It is a collection of articles and essays that cover another broad topic in philosophy. If by chance you are deciding on buying this book or not based on my review, please keep in mind that I am not a scholar of philosophy, just a "casual" reader of the subject.