Epistemology is the study of our right to the beliefs we have. More generally, we start from what we might call our cognitive stances, and ask whether we do well to have those stances. Cognitive stances include both our beliefs and (what we take to be) our knowings; and in another dimension they include our attitudes towards the various strategies and methods we use to get new beliefs and filter out old ones, as well as the products of those strategies and methods. Epistemology, on this showing, is explicitly normative; it is concerned with whether we have acted well or badly (responsibly or irresponsibly) in forming the beliefs we have.

In pursuing this inquiry, we do not, of course, ask only about the beliefs and strategies we find ourselves with at the beginning. We also ask whether there are not others which we would do better to have, and whether there are not others which we should have if we have these ones to start off with. The hope is to end up with a full account of......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: Problems Of Epistemology
Approximate Word Count: 1308
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on Problems Of Epistemology, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!