The Best Epistemology eBooks of All Time

What is knowledge? How is it acquired? How are claims to knowledge to be validated? Can man achieve rational certainty,or is he doomed to perpetual doubt?How We Know presents an integrated set of answers to these and related questions, based on Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy, including her unique theory of concepts. Rejecting the false alternative of mysticism vs. skepticism, Harry Binswanger provides an uncompromising defense of reason, logic, and objectivity.

Using vivid examples, he traces the hierarchical development of knowledge, from its base in sensory perception, to concept­formation, to logical inference, to its culmination in the principles of science and philosophy.How We Know explains how following methods of cognition based on the facts of reality and on the nature of our cognitive equipment makes it possible to achieve rational certainty, no matter how abstract the issue.Harry Binswanger earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1973. He has taught philosophy at severaluniversities, most recently at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Binswanger was an associate and friend of Ayn Rand in her final years, and since 1986 he has served on the Board of the Ayn Rand Institute.He is the author of The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and the editor of The Ayn Rand Lexicon, a mini-­encyclopedia of Objectivism. He co­-edited the expanded second edition of Ayn Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.Currently, Dr. Binswanger runs HBLetter, a subscription­-based website on Objectivism.

'The Problems of Philosophy' discusses Bertrand Russell's views on philosophy and the problems that arise in the field. Russell's views focus on knowledge rather than the metaphysical realm of philosophy. 'The Problems with Philosophy' revolves around the central question that Russell asks in his opening line of Chapter 1 - Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it? He examines this question by delving into the idea of reality versus appearance, as for Russell and other philosophers who share his ideas it is sensory perception of the world around them that shapes their knowledge.

It is in this work that he discusses his idea of sense-data to help explain the differences between appearance and reality. 'The Problems of Philosophy' is Russell's first attempt at recording and working through a theory of epistemology, which is the theory of the nature of human knowledge.

Now revised and containing three new chapters, this book provides a clear and accessible introduction to epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. It discusses some of the main theories of justification, including foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism, and virtue epistemology. Other topics include the Gettier problem, internalism and externalism, skepticism, the problem of epistemic circularity, a priori knowledge, naturalized epistemology, and the epistemic significance of testimony and disagreement.

Intended primarily for students taking their first classes in epistemology, this lucid and well-written text will provide an excellent introduction to anyone interested in knowing more about this important area of philosophy.