A Critical Introduction to Formal Epistemology

Formalmethodsarechanginghowepistemologyisbeingstudiedandunderstood.ACriticalIntroductiontoFormalEpistemologyintroducesthetypesofformaltheoriesbeingusedandexplainshowtheyareshapingthesubject.BeginningwiththebasicsofprobabilityandBayesianism,itshowshowrepresentingdegreesofbeliefusingprobabilitiesinformscentraldebatesinepistemology.Aswellasdiscussinginduction,theparadoxofconfirmationandthemainchallengestoBayesianism,thiscomprehensiveoverviewcoversobjectivechance,peerdisagreement,theconceptoffullbelief,andthetraditionalproblemsofjustificationandknowledge.Subjectingeachpositiontoacriticalanalysis,itexplainsthemainissuesinformalepistemology,andthemotivationsanddrawbacksofeachposition.Writteninanaccessiblelanguageandsupportedstudyquestions,guidestofurtherreadingandaglossary,positionsareplacedinanhistoriccontexttogiveasenseofthedevelopmentofthefield.Asthefirstintroductorytextbookonformalepistemology,ACriticalIntroductiontoFormalEpistemologyisaninvaluableresourceforstudentsandscholarsofcontemporaryepistemology.