The Epistemological Spectrum At the Interface of Cognitive Science and Conceptual Analysis

by Henderson, David K.; Horgan, Terence

• ISBN13: 9780199684755
• ISBN10: 0199684758
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-08-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

David Henderson and Terence Horgan set out a broad new approach to epistemology, which they see as a mixed discipline, having both a priori and empirical elements. They defend the roles of a priori reflection and conceptual analysis in philosophy, but their revisionary account of these philosophical methods allows them a subtle but essential empirical dimension. They espouse a dual-perspective position which they call iceberg epistemology, respecting the important differences between epistemic processes that are consciously accessible and those that are not. Reflecting on epistemic justification, they introduce the notion of transglobal reliability as the mark of the cognitive processes that are suitable for humans. Which cognitive processes these are depends on contingent facts about human cognitive capacities, and these cannot be known a priori.

Author Biography

David K. Henderson is Robert R. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and the Moral Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of Interpretation and Explanation in the Human Sciences and a number of articles on epistemology and the philosophy of the social sciences.

Terry Horgan is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. His research interests are metaphysics, epistemology, mind, and metaethics, and he has published widely across these disciplines.

Table of Contents

1. An Overview
2. Grades of A Priori Justification
3. Neoclassical Reliabilism
4. Transglobal Reliabilism
5. Defending Transglobal Reliabilism
6. Epistemic Competence and the Call to Naturalize Epistemology
7. An Expanded Conception of Epistemically Relevant Cognitive Processes: The Role of Morphological Content
8. Iceberg Epistemology: Vindicating and Transforming Some Traditional Accounts of Justification
Bibliography
Index