Abstract
Many epistemologists are interested in offering a positive account of how it is that many of our common sense beliefs enjoy one or another positive epistemological status (e.g., how they are warranted, justified, reasonable, or what have you). A number of philosophers, under the influence of Wittgenstein and/or J. L. Austin, have argued that this enterprise is misconceived. The most effective version of this argument is to be found in Mark Kaplan’s paper “Epistemology on Holiday”. After explaining what this criticism amounts to and why it is important, I then respond to it. My response is based upon, and is intended to display the explanatory power of, a contractarian account of our practice of epistemic appraisal.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
William Alston (1985) ArticleTitle”Concepts of Epistemic Justification” The Monist 68 57–89
Alston, William: 1988, ”The Deontological Conception of Epistemic Justification” in Tomberlin 1988.
William. Alston (1993) ArticleTitle”Epistemic Desiderata” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52 527–51 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2108079
J. L. Austin (1962) Sense and Sensibilia Oxford University Press Oxford
Laurence BonJour (1985) The Structure of Empirical Justification Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
Alex Byrne (2004) ArticleTitle‘How Hard Are Skeptical Paradoxes?’ Nous 38 299–325 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1468-0068.2004.00471.x
Stanley Cavell (1979) The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy Oxford University Press Oxford
Roderick Chisholm (1976) Theory of Knowledge EditionNumber2 Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Thompson Clarke (1972) ArticleTitle‘The Legacy of Skepticism’ Journal of Philosophy 69 754–69 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2024672
Cohen, Stewart: 1988, ‘How to be an Fallibilist’ in Tomberlin 1988.
Edward Craig (1990) Knowledge and the State of Nature Clarendon Oxford
Jonathan Dancy (Eds) (1979) Papers on Language and Logic Keele University Library Keele
Davidson, Donald: 1986. ‘A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge’ in LePore 1986.
Keith DeRose (1995) ArticleTitle‘Solving the Skeptical Problem’ Philosophical Review 104 1–51 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2186011
Keith DeRose (1996) ArticleTitle‘Knowledge, Assertion, and Lotteries’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy 74 568–80 Occurrence Handle10.1080/00048409612347531
Fred Dretske (1971) ArticleTitle‘Conclusive Reasons’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy 49 1–22
Keith DeRose (1981) Knowledge and the Flow of Information MIT Press Cambridge, MA
Richard Feldman Earl Conee (1985) ArticleTitle‘Evidentialism’ Philosophical Studies 48 15–34 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00372404
Frege, Gottlob: 1980, The Foundations of Arithmetic, trans. J.L. Austin, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL.
Peter French Theodore Uehling SuffixJr. Howard Wettstein (Eds) (1981) Midwest Studies in Philosophy VI: The Foundations of Analytic Epistemology University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis, MN
Grice, H. P.: 1957, ‘Meaning’ in Grice 1989.
Grice (1989) Studies in the Way of Words Harvard University Press Cambridge
Alvin Goldman (1986) Epistemology and Cognition Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
L. E. Hahn (Eds) (1998) The Philosophy of P.F. Strawson Open Court Chicago
Gilbert Harman (1973) Thought Princeton University Press Princeton NJ
Mark Kaplan (1991) ArticleTitle‘Epistemology on Holiday’ Journal of Philosophy 88 132–54 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2026985
Peter Klein (1981) Certainty: A Refutation of Skepticism University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis, MN
Hilary Kornblith (2002) Knowledge and its Place in Nature Clarendon Press Oxford
Keith Lehrer (1974) Knowledge Oxford University Press New York
Keith Lehrer (1990) Theory of Knowledge Westview Press Boulder, CO
E. LePore (Eds) (1986) Truth and Interpretation Blackwell Oxford
David Lewis (1979) ArticleTitle‘Scorekeeping in a Language Game’ Journal of Philosophical Logic 8 339–59 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00258436
David Lewis (1995) ArticleTitle‘Elusive Knowledge’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy 74 549–67 Occurrence Handle10.1080/00048409612347521
Douglas Long (1992) ArticleTitle‘The Self-Defeating Character of Skepticism’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52 67–84 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2107744
Moore, G. E.: 1959a, ‘Certainty’ in Moore 1959c.
Moore, G. E.: 1959b, ‘A Defence of Common Sense’ in Moore 1959c.
Moore, G. E.: 1959c, Philosophical Papers, George Allen and Unwin, London.
Nozick, Robert: 1981, Philosophical Explanations, Belknap, Cambridge, MA.
David Owens (2000) Reason without Freedom: The Problem of Epistemic Normativity Routledge London and New York
Alvin Plantinga (1993a) Warrant: The Current Debate Oxford University Press Oxford
Alvin Plantinga (1993b) Warrant and Proper Function Oxford University Press Oxford
John Pollock (1974) Knowledge and Justification Princeton University Press Princeton
Hilary Putnam (1981) Reason, Truth, and History Cambridge University Press Cambridge
Steven Rieber (1998) ArticleTitle‘Knowledge and Contrastive Explanation’ Nous 32 189–204 Occurrence Handle10.1111/0029-4624.00096
Bertrand Russell (1971) Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy Simon and Schuster New York
Slote, Michael: 1979, ‘Assertion and Belief’ in Dancy 1979.
Strawson, P. F.: 1998, ‘Reply to Ernest Sosa’ in Hahn 1998.
Barry Stroud (1984) The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism Oxford University Press Oxford
Barry Stroud (2000) Understanding Human Knowledge Oxford University Press Oxford
James Tomberlin (1988) Philosophical Perspectives, Volume 2: Epistemology Ridgeview Atascadero, CA
Turner Piers: Manuscript, ‘A Defense of Epistemic Deontology’, Master’s Thesis at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (2004).
Peter Unger (1975) Ignorance: A Case for Scepticism Oxford University Press Oxford
Jonathan Vogel (1990) ArticleTitle‘Cartesian Skepticism and Inference to the Best Explanation’ Journal of Philosophy 87 658–66
Bernard Williams (1978) Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry Hammondsworth London
Michael Williams (1977) Groundless Belief: An Essay on the Possibility of Epistemology Yale New Haven, CT
Michael Williams (1991) Unnatural Doubts: Epistemololgical Realism and the Basis of Scepticism Basil Blackwell Oxford
Timothy Williamson (2000) Knowledge and Its Limits Oxford University Press Oxford
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1969) On Certainty Basil Blackwell Oxford
Wright Crispin: 1985, ‘Facts and Certainty’, Proceedings of the British Academy 429–72.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neta, R. Epistemology Factualized: New Contractarian Foundations for Epistemology. Synthese 150, 247–280 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-004-6266-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-004-6266-7