Social Epistemology: Essential Readings

by Alvin Goldman (Editor), Dennis Whitcomb (Editor)

Overview

What if anything justifies us in believing the testimony of others? How should we react to disagreement between ourselves and our peers, and to disagreement among the experts when we ourselves are novices? Can beliefs be held by groups of people in addition to the people composing those groups? And if so, how should groups go about forming their beliefs? How should we design social systems, such as legal juries and scientific research-sharing schemes, to promote knowledge among the people who engage in them? When different groups of people judge different beliefs to be justified, how can we tell which groups are correct? These questions are at the heart of the vital discipline of social epistemology. The classic articles in this volume address these questions in ways that are both cutting-edge and easy to understand. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and students in epistemology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199841042
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/11/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Alvin Goldman is Board of Governors Professor, Department of Philosophy and Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University. Dennis Whitcomb is Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Western Washington University

Table of Contents

Introduction By Dennis Whitcomb I. Conceptions of Social Epistemology Chapter 1. Alvin I. Goldman, "A Guide to Social Epistemology". Chapter 2. Paul Boghossian, "Epistemic Relativism Defended". Chapter 3. Miranda Fricker, "Rational Authority and Social Power: Towards a Truly Social Epistemology". II. Trust in Testimony and Experts Chapter 4. Jennifer Lackey, "Testimony: Acquiring Knowledge from Others" . Chapter 5. Sanford C. Goldberg, "If that Were True I Would Have Heard It By Now". Chapter 6. Alvin Goldman, "Experts: Which Ones Should You Trust?". III. Reasonable Peer Disagreement Chapter 7. Richard Feldman, "Reasonable Religious Disagreement". Chapter 8. Adam Elga, "Reflection and Disagreement". Chapter 9. Thomas Kelly, "Peer Disagreement and Higher Order Evidence" (selections). IV. Judgment Aggregation Chapter 10. Christian List, "Group Knowledge and Group Rationality". Chapter 11. Philip Pettit, "Groups with Minds of Their Own". V. Systems Design Chapter 12. Larry Laudan, "Thinking about Error in the Law". Chapter 13. Don Fallis, "Wikipistemology". Chapter 14. Cass R. Sunstein, "Deliberating Groups vs. Prediction Markets (or Hayek's Challenge to Habermas)". Chapter 15. Kevin J. S. Zollman, "The Communication Structure of Epistemic Communities".

Editorial Reviews

"This is a collection of essays that offers comprehensive and detailed information on the basic problems and the concepts of social epistemology. A source of valuable knowledge and will not disappoint those who will study it carefully." —Metapsychology

From the Publisher