Knowledge and Its Limits / Edition 1

by Timothy Williamson

Overview

Knowledge and its Limits presents a systematic new conception of knowledge as a kind of mental stage sensitive to the knower's environment. It makes a major contribution to the debate between externalist and internalist philosophies of mind, and breaks radically with the epistemological tradition of analyzing knowledge in terms of true belief. The theory casts new light on such philosophical problems as scepticism, evidence, probability and assertion, realism and anti-realism, and the limits of what can be known. The arguments are illustrated by rigorous models based on epistemic logic and probability theory. The result is a new way of doing epistemology and a notable contribution to the philosophy of mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199256563
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/19/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	9.16(w) x 6.24(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Timothy Williamson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Introduction1.. A State of Mind3.. Primeness4.. Anti-Luminosity5.. Margins and Iterations6.. An Application7.. Sensitivity8.. Scepticism9.. Evidence10.. Evidential Probability11.. Assertion12.. StructuralUnknowabilityAppendicesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Newness in philosophy is rare. But this important book offers a boldly original view of the nature of knowledge.... A daring new picture of knowledge is skillfully supported with an argumentative verve that its author, the new professor of logic at Oxford University, has made himself known for.... Throughout, Mr Williamson is bold, ingenious and original; the tradition he opposes appears by contrast stale, scholastic and uninspired.... Anyone with a serious interest in philosophy will have much to learn from this challenging book."—The Economist

From the Publisher