Epistemology, or “the theory of knowledge,” is concerned with how we know what we know, what justifies us in believing what we believe, and what standards of evidence we should use in seeking truths about the world and human experience. This comprehensive introduction to the field of epistemology explains the concepts and theories central to understanding knowledge. Along with covering the traditional topics of the discipline in detail, Epistemology explores emerging areas of research. The third edition features new sections on such topics as the nature of intuition, the skeptical challenge of rational disagreement, and “the value problem” – the range of questions concerning why knowledge and justified true belief have value beyond that of merely true belief. Updated and expanded, Epistemology remains a superb introduction to one of the most fundamental fields of philosophy.
Special features of the third edition of Epistemology include:
a comprehensive survey of basic concepts, major theories, and emerging research in the field
enhanced treatment of key topics such as contextualism, perception (including perceptual content), scientific hypotheses, self-evidence and the a priori, testimony, understanding, and virtue epistemology
expanded discussion of the relation between epistemology and related fields, especially philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and ethics
increased clarity and ease of understanding for an undergraduate audience
an updated list of key literature and annotated bibliography.
Review
'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology , Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' –Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA
'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA
'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit―and tremendously so―from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' –E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA
Praise for the second edition:
'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' –Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil
'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have… Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada
Praise for the first edition:
'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA
'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK
' A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA
' Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge , 3rd Edition is an excellent introductory textbook by one of the world’s leading epistemologists. This textbook would be a good choice for use in advanced undergraduate courses or introductory graduate courses on epistemology because it manages to be accessible enough for advanced undergraduates to follow while being challenging enough for graduate students to profit from closely reading it.' – Kevin McCain, University of Rochester, USA
'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology , Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' –Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA
'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA
'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit―and tremendously so―from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' –E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA
Praise for the second edition:
'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' –Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil
'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have… Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada
Praise for the first edition:
'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA
'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK
' A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA
About the Author
Robert Audi is John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and author of many papers and books on knowledge and belief, justification, and rationality.
Epistemology, or “the theory of knowledge,” is concerned with how we know what we know, what justifies us in believing what we believe, and what standards of evidence we should use in seeking truths about the world and human experience. This comprehensive introduction to the field of epistemology explains the concepts and theories central to understanding knowledge. Along with covering the traditional topics of the discipline in detail, Epistemology explores emerging areas of research. The third edition features new sections on such topics as the nature of intuition, the skeptical challenge of rational disagreement, and “the value problem” – the range of questions concerning why knowledge and justified true belief have value beyond that of merely true belief. Updated and expanded, Epistemology remains a superb introduction to one of the most fundamental fields of philosophy.
Special features of the third edition of Epistemology include:
Review
'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology , Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' – Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA
'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA
'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit―and tremendously so―from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' – E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA
Praise for the second edition:
'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' – Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil
'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have… Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada
Praise for the first edition:
'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA
'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK
' A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA
' Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge , 3rd Edition is an excellent introductory textbook by one of the world’s leading epistemologists. This textbook would be a good choice for use in advanced undergraduate courses or introductory graduate courses on epistemology because it manages to be accessible enough for advanced undergraduates to follow while being challenging enough for graduate students to profit from closely reading it.' – Kevin McCain, University of Rochester, USA
'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology , Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' – Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA
'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA
'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit―and tremendously so―from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' – E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA
Praise for the second edition:
'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' – Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil
'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have… Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada
Praise for the first edition:
'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA
'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK
' A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA
About the Author
Robert Audi is John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and author of many papers and books on knowledge and belief, justification, and rationality.