Pragmatic Encroachment in Epistemology

According to philosophical lore, epistemological orthodoxy is a purist epistemology in which epistemic concepts such as belief, evidence, and knowledge are characterized to be pure and free from practical concerns. In recent years, the debate has focused narrowly on the concept of knowledge and a number of challenges have been posed against the orthodox, purist view of knowledge. While the debate about knowledge is still a lively one, the pragmatic exploration in epistemology has just begun.

This collection takes on the task of expanding this exploration into new areas. It discusses how the practical might encroach on all areas of our epistemic lives from the way we think about belief, confidence, probability, and evidence to our ideas about epistemic value and excellence. The contributors also delve into the ramifications of pragmatic views in epistemology for questions about the value of knowledge and its practical role. Pragmatic Encroachment in Epistemology will be of interest to a broad range of epistemologists, as well as scholars working on virtue theory and practical reason.

Brian Kim received his PhD from Columbia University and is assistant professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University. He works on issues at the intersection of epistemology and rational choice theory.

Matthew McGrath received his PhD from Brown and is currently Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers and Professorial Fellow at Arche, the University of St. Andrews. Within epistemology, he has published on topics including pragmatic encroachment, perceptual and memorial justification. He is the author, with Jeremy Fantl, of Knowledge in an Uncertain World.