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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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HOW DO
WE KNOW
JAMES K DEW JR
MARK W FOREMAN
An Introduction to Epistemology
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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HOW DO
WE KNOW
An Introduction to Epistemology
JAMES K DEW JR
MARK W FOREMAN
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InterVarsity Press
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Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
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local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
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All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New King James Versionreg Copyright copy
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983091983094-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983094983097983097983094-983089 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America infin
InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of naturalresources As a member of Green Press Initiative we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore about the Green Press Initiative visit wwwgreenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
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Contents
Preace 983095
983089 What Is Epistemology 983097
983090 What Is Knowledge 983089983097
983091 Where Does Knowledge Come From 983091983089
983092 What Is ruth and How Do We Find It 983092983097
983093 What Are Inerences and How Do hey Work 983094983091
983094 What Do We Perceive 983095983097
983095 Do We Need Justiication 983097983093
983096 What Is Virtue Epistemology 983089983089983093
983097 Do We Have Revelation 983089983090983097
983089983088 How Certain Can We Be 983089983092983095
For Further Reading 983089983094983093
About the Authors 983089983094983097
Index 983089983095983089
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
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troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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HOW DO
WE KNOW
An Introduction to Epistemology
JAMES K DEW JR
MARK W FOREMAN
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
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local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
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All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New King James Versionreg Copyright copy
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983091983094-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983094983097983097983094-983089 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America infin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
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Contents
Preace 983095
983089 What Is Epistemology 983097
983090 What Is Knowledge 983089983097
983091 Where Does Knowledge Come From 983091983089
983092 What Is ruth and How Do We Find It 983092983097
983093 What Are Inerences and How Do hey Work 983094983091
983094 What Do We Perceive 983095983097
983095 Do We Need Justiication 983097983093
983096 What Is Virtue Epistemology 983089983089983093
983097 Do We Have Revelation 983089983090983097
983089983088 How Certain Can We Be 983089983092983095
For Further Reading 983089983094983093
About the Authors 983089983094983097
Index 983089983095983089
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
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1048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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HOW DO
WE KNOW
An Introduction to Epistemology
JAMES K DEW JR
MARK W FOREMAN
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094
World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United States
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local and regional activities write Public Relations Dept InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088983088 Schroeder
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All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New King James Versionreg Copyright copy
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983091983094-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983094983097983097983094-983089 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America infin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
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Contents
Preace 983095
983089 What Is Epistemology 983097
983090 What Is Knowledge 983089983097
983091 Where Does Knowledge Come From 983091983089
983092 What Is ruth and How Do We Find It 983092983097
983093 What Are Inerences and How Do hey Work 983094983091
983094 What Do We Perceive 983095983097
983095 Do We Need Justiication 983097983093
983096 What Is Virtue Epistemology 983089983089983093
983097 Do We Have Revelation 983089983090983097
983089983088 How Certain Can We Be 983089983092983095
For Further Reading 983089983094983093
About the Authors 983089983094983097
Index 983089983095983089
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
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troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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copy983090983088983089983092 by James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
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ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983094983097983097983094-983089 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America infin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
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Contents
Preace 983095
983089 What Is Epistemology 983097
983090 What Is Knowledge 983089983097
983091 Where Does Knowledge Come From 983091983089
983092 What Is ruth and How Do We Find It 983092983097
983093 What Are Inerences and How Do hey Work 983094983091
983094 What Do We Perceive 983095983097
983095 Do We Need Justiication 983097983093
983096 What Is Virtue Epistemology 983089983089983093
983097 Do We Have Revelation 983089983090983097
983089983088 How Certain Can We Be 983089983092983095
For Further Reading 983089983094983093
About the Authors 983089983094983097
Index 983089983095983089
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
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1048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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Contents
Preace 983095
983089 What Is Epistemology 983097
983090 What Is Knowledge 983089983097
983091 Where Does Knowledge Come From 983091983089
983092 What Is ruth and How Do We Find It 983092983097
983093 What Are Inerences and How Do hey Work 983094983091
983094 What Do We Perceive 983095983097
983095 Do We Need Justiication 983097983093
983096 What Is Virtue Epistemology 983089983089983093
983097 Do We Have Revelation 983089983090983097
983089983088 How Certain Can We Be 983089983092983095
For Further Reading 983089983094983093
About the Authors 983089983094983097
Index 983089983095983089
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
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1048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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Preface
E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983145983155 983137 983138983154983137983150983139983144 983151983142 983152983144983145983148983151983155983151983152983144983161 that deals with the
nature o our knowledge And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with it holds major importance or all aspects o human
lie When scientists or example make a discovery they employ a par-
ticular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries When
theologians ormulate doctrinal statements they do so by relying on a
particular source o inormation Likewise when prosecutors argue the
guilt o someone who committed a particular crime they rely on certain
kinds o evidence and make a certain kind o inerence All o these
disciplines and many more make epistemological assumptions But this
is not all Even apart rom these disciplines normal people do the same
thing on a daily basis When we develop a belie by listening to a personrsquos
testimony seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two state-
ments are contradictory we are operating on certain important episte-
mological assumptions In the end we all take epistemological positions
on things even i we do not realize it Tereore this branch o phi-
losophy requires proper attention
Tis book is an introduction to epistemology that is written rom a
Christian perspective It began several years ago with a conversation be-
tween its authors about the difficulty our students have with this par-
ticular branch o philosophy Tere are o course good introductions toepistemology and we find them helpul or various purposes Yet many
o these volumes are too technical or too ocused on a specific topic or
beginning philosophy students Tereore we have tried to write an in-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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1048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
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Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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1048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
troduction that covers the major issues in epistemology while also
making the discussion as accessible as possible We hope that students
will find it beneficialMany people have helped us think through these issues We would like
to thank our riends and colleagues or their constant encouragement and
stimulation on these matters We especially thank Bruce Little Greg
Welty Jeremy Evans Rich Holland Gary Habermas Dave Beck Dave
Baggett Tom Provenzola Mike Jones Ed Martin and Craig Hinkson or
many helpul conversations on these issues Likewise the two blind re-
viewers o this volume offered comments that helped us sharpen the ocuso the book and we wish to thank them or their time and attention to
our work We would also like to thank ara Dew Wesley Davey Carrie
Pickelsimer and Billie Goodenough or their gracious help in editing the
manuscript o this book Tey have given countless hours to reading and
rereading the manuscript in preparation or printing and we are most
grateul or them Finally we would like to thank David Congdon and the
entire editorial board at InterVarsity Press or encouragement and support
on this project Tis book would not be possible without the help o these
individuals May God continue to bless each one o them or years to
come
James K Dew Jr
Mark W Foreman
June 10486261048632 1048626104862410486251048627
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 917
10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1017
What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1117
10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1317
10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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1
What Is Epistemology
H983151983159 983140983151 983159983141 983147983150983151983159 983159983144983137983156 983159983141 983147983150983151983159983103 Tis is the basic question that
undergirds the discipline o epistemology We take it or granted that we
know many different things but we rarely ask this basic question about
our knowledge In act most people assume that intellectual questions
like these are unimportant and have a great aversion to pursuing them
Yet because we make errors in judgment that are ofen costly to us this
is the kind o question that we should take seriously Tis is especially
true regarding the big choices in lie
Tis book recognizes the importance o asking these kinds o ques-
tions and offers an introductory treatment o the basic questions and
issues in epistemology It is designed or those who have no background
in philosophy and lack amiliarity with these issues In this chapter we
deal with preliminary issues and make a case or the importance o epis-
temology In the remainder o the book we offer a brie sketch o the
major epistemological issues
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983152983145983155983156983141983149983151983148983151983143983161 983137983150983140 W983144983161 D983151 W983141 N983141983141983140 I983156983103
Philosophy is a discipline that addresses a range o important intellectual
questions For example some philosophers pursue a branch o phi-
losophy called metaphysics which examines ultimate reality by consid-
ering things like the nature o time reedom essences God and the soulto name just a ew Ethics is a discipline o philosophy that examines
morality and human actions Here philosophers debate peoplersquos actions
and moral systems In contrast to these areas o philosophy epistemology
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10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1217
What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1317
10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
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8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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10486251048624 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
is a branch o philosophy that deals with the nature and sources o
knowledge and develops a theory o knowledge As such epistemology
is reerred to as the study o knowledge Within this field philosophersmight ask the ollowing kinds o questions
bull What does it mean to say that we know something
bull How do we come to know various things
bull What is truth and how do we find it
bull What does it mean to have epistemic justification and is this necessary
bull What are epistemological virtues and are they helpul or us
bull How reliable are our perceptions
bull Can we have certainty
Tese along with other important questions represent the kind o
things we will look at in this book We will say a bit more about these
questions shortly
Beore we do that however we should consider why epistemology isimportant and why we should give it any attention For some people it
seems oolish or even arrogant to ask epistemological questions Tere
is a sense in which this is understandable Afer all most people go
through lie gaining knowledge about all kinds o things without ex-
ploring these kinds o questions Perhaps they say asking epistemic
questions is a waste o time and mental energy And they might say
philosophers who raise such questions solve no puzzles and only create
more intellectual problems
o these concerns we offer two kinds o response First it is unnatural
and unruitul to avoid epistemological questions Tat is we by our
nature as human beings long or knowledge and depend on it or all
aspects o lie such that not asking these kinds o questions cuts off
natural and needed intellectual growth Consider or example the way
a child seeks afer knowledge Children have an unquenchable thirst or
understanding about their world I (Dew) happen to have by Godrsquos good
avor our beautiul children Watching them grow up is ascinating
Tey learn to eat crawl walk ride bikes and much more But most un
o all they learn how to think And when this begins to happen our
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1117
10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1017
What Is Epistemology 10486251048625
conversations explode with questions As a ather I am daily bombarded
with questions about trivial things like the ollowing
ldquoDaddy what is a treerdquoldquoDaddy why is the sky bluerdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we wear shoesrdquo
ldquoDaddy do I need to wear clothes todayrdquo
ldquoDaddy where are you goingrdquo
ldquoDaddy how do I turn on the Wiirdquo
ldquoDaddy why canrsquot we play outside in the night timerdquo
But trivial questions are not the only kind o questions that mychildren ask Tey also ask about the big things in lie Just when I am
not expecting something heavy rom them they might also ask
ldquoDaddy what happened to Gramps when he diedrdquo
ldquoDaddy why do we have to dierdquo
ldquoDaddy will my riend who is sick ever get betterrdquo
ldquoDaddy where does God liverdquo
ldquoDaddy when will Jesus come backrdquo
When children ask such questions they are trying to understand their
world Tey come into this world knowing and understanding very little
and spend the rest o their lives trying to figure out everything Seeking
knowledge and trying to understand how we get this knowledge is a
natural thing or us to do In act sometimes it is hard not to ask episte-
mological questions
Also consider the way the world changed by asking epistemological
questions In the seventeenth century Francis Bacon introduced a new
method o gaining knowledgemdashthe inductive method It is sae to say
that advances were already taking place beore him but with Bacon
modern science was thrust orward with a new method capable o dis-
covery and invention Within a short time modern science was surging
orward and the world would be orever changed oday we reap the
benefits o the scientific revolution which was built on a major episte-
mological shif I intellectuals had not been asking these questions thenyou would be walking to work instead o driving your car
We are also reminded o how natural and ruitul it is to seek afer
knowledge when we consider our lives and careers Many o us work in
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1117
10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1217
What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1317
10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
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10486251048626 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
jobs that require specific kinds o knowledge or a particular set o skills
I we lacked these we would not be able to do what we do Tus people
go to college and trade schools to learn what they need to know Failureto pursue these kinds o knowledge would greatly limit our ability to
work and provide or our amilies
As a second way o response we should note that or some questions
the stakes are so high that we would be ools not to seek the best possible
answers and inormation that may be available For example consider
once again the questions that my children ofen ask me ldquoDaddy what
happens when we dierdquo As a Christian I answer that question in a par-ticular way I explain to my children how God made us and what happens
at death Tis response however assumes that God does exist and that
Christianity is ultimately true But this raises the question as to how we
know that these belies are true When someone loses a loved one that
person whether a Christian or a non-Christian naturally wonders
whether or not God really exists And given humanityrsquos general desire to
live and avoid death it is oolish not to seek answers to these philo-
sophical questions I God does not exist then one is ree to live any way
one sees fit But i God does exist then how one lives would surely matter
a great deal Tus the reality o death orces us to think about the exis-
tence o God which in turn orces us to think about how we might know
i God exists or not
Or consider the way that the legal system works In the United States
or example people are ofen sentenced to death afer being convicted o
murder How do we know they committed murder It might be the case
that eyewitnesses saw this particular murder take place and gave a report
to the police Or it might be the case that there was sufficient circum-
stantial evidence to warrant a murder conviction In either case decisions
about lie and death are being based on the strength o a particular kind
o inormation But is it possible that eyewitness testimony is not com-
pletely accurate Perhaps the witnesses thought they saw something that
they did not see And even though there may be sufficient circumstantialevidence to convict someone o murder it might still be possible that all
o this evidence is coincidental and thus the convicted party is innocent
We raise these points not because we are trying to undercut the legal
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1217
What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1317
10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048627
system Rather we raise these points to illustrate the way lie-and-death
decisions are based on epistemological assumptions We ofen assume
that eyewitnesses see everything as it actually is or that circumstantialevidence is completely conclusive But these assumptions are possibly
alse Failure to engage in epistemological considerations could have dire
consequences Tereore we suggest that epistemology is an important
pursuit or all people not just or intellectuals and philosophers
W983144983151 I983155 T983144983145983155 B983151983151983147 F983151983154983103
Tere are a large number o excellent books on epistemology Studentswho want to pursue epistemology urther will have plenty o resources
at their disposal to satisy their curiosity Yet over the years we have
noticed that those who are new to philosophy have an especially difficult
time with epistemology Philosophy itsel is hard enough but or most
students epistemology is ofen the hardest o all
Tis book is written or those with no background in philosophy It is
easy to find good resources that deal with the inormation in a more
technical or academic ashion or that give greater attention to a particular
issue than we have here Many o these books however are too technical
or beginning philosophy students Moreover books that are accessible
or beginning students are ofen ocused on specific topics within episte-
mology and are not intended to offer a broad introduction We attempt
to survey the major issues in epistemology in a concise and accessible
ashion giving students the basics o what they need to know to go urther
in philosophy or or pursuing their own unique discipline In short this
is an epistemology or beginners not or advanced philosophers
Tere is one other important eature o this bookmdashit brings a Christian
perspective to bear on the questions o knowledge Tis does not mean
that our only goal is to tell readers about Christianity Rather it identifies
our perspective In most places our treatment o an issue will be similar
to other non-Christian perspectives But in other places we will try to
show how certain epistemological issues intersect with a Christian per-spective and what Christianity has to say about these issues A case in point
is chapter 1048633 where we deal with the issue o divine revelation On this note
let us say something about the kinds o issues we cover in this book
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10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1317
10486251048628 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 I983155983155983157983141983155 W983145983148983148 W983141 C983151983158983141983154983103
Afer the general introduction offered here in chapter 1048625 chapter 1048626 ex-
amines the question o knowledge Specifically it answers the questionWhat is knowledge For most students this is an odd question but it is
significant nonetheless Chapter 1048626 traces the history o the answer to this
question Tis historical treatment goes back to Plato and shows that
most philosophers have understood knowledge to be justified true belie
o know something one must first believe it and have justification or it
and it must in act be true Although this definition o knowledge has
endured or more than two thousand years it received a significant chal-lenge in the twentieth century rom Edmund Gettier Chapter 1048626 outlines
what the Gettier problem is and how various philosophers have re-
sponded to it
Chapter 1048627 ocuses on the sources o our knowledge Specifically it
answers the ollowing question Where does knowledge come rom o
answer this question the chapter looks at various sources First it con-
siders the place o reason in our knowledge Here we consider the workso Plato and Descartes who were suspicious o our senses and confident
in our ability to use reason It then looks at other philosophers like Lu-
cretius Bacon Locke and Hume who took a different perspective rom
that o Plato and Descartes Tese empiricists thought that experience
played a central role in giving us knowledge In act many o these phi-
losophers thought that knowledge could come only rom the senses ex-
perience and observations Tis chapter also examines the value o tes-
timony rom other people and how this inorms our belies and provides
knowledge Ten it notes the possibility that we have divine revelation
rom God and how this might give us knowledge o nonphysical things
Here we do not make a case or revelation because we do that in chapter
1048633 Instead we note the two possible kinds o revelation that we might
havemdashnatural and special Finally chapter 1048627 considers aith as a source
o revelation arguing that despite what is ofen argued by some believers
aith is not a source o inormation
Chapter 1048628 explores the question o truth answering the questions
What is truth and how do we find it Against relativism it first argues
that there are in act some things that are true o reality But once this is
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1417
What Is Epistemology 10486251048629
done it considers the nature o truth itsel What is it about a particular
proposition that allows us to deem it as a true statement In light o this
question chapter 1048628 considers various definitions o truth the correspon-dence theory o truth coherentism and pragmatism According to the
correspondence theory a true proposition will be one that corresponds
to the way things really are in the world I the statement does not cor-
respond it is not true As we point out there this approach has been the
dominant view or well over two thousand years More recently some
philosophers have rejected this view in avor o either coherentism or
pragmatism Coherentists argue that a true statement is one that is con-sistent with or coheres with everything else we believe or think we
know Pragmatism by contrast says that true statements are those that
workmdashor are valuablemdashor a particular individual or group o people
Chapter 1048628 examines each o these positions arguing that both coher-
entism and pragmatism offer some helpul insights in identiying truth
claims Afer all i a statement is really true it will be consistent with
other things we know and will work or us Yet these two criteria by
themselves are insufficient as definitions or truth because a proposition
can be consistent with other belies and beneficial in some way but still
be alse In this chapter we explain how these are necessary conditions
or truth but not sufficient conditions or truth In the end we argue that
a correspondence theory o truth must be affirmed
In chapter 1048629 we consider inerences and how they unction in our
thinking We first examine the nature o inerences to show how they
work and how ofen we employ them in our thinking even i we are not
consciously aware o doing so Specifically we explore the relationship
between knowledge claims and the evidence that supports those claims
to show how inerences make the interpretive move rom evidence to
claim Once this is done we then describe the different kinds o iner-
ences that we make Deductive inerences or example move rom a set
o premises to the conclusion I the premises o a deductive argument
are true and the structure o the argument is valid then the conclusionso these arguments are absolutely certain Inductive inerences move
rom a very broad evidential base to make general interpretive claims
about that evidence Unlike deductive inerence induction allows or a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
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What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1517
10486251048630 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
vast expansion o knowledge but does not yield absolute certainty Fi-
nally abductive inerence takes one or two pieces o evidence and seeks
the best possible explanation o this evidence Tis chapter concludes bynoting the various errors that we can make in drawing inerences
Chapter 1048630 explores the issue o perception Specifically it tries to
answer the question What do we perceive Tis might seem like an odd
question but it is important When we see the dog Buddy in ront o us
do we see Buddy himsel or just some visual representation o him And
i it is just a visual representation o Buddy how do we know that our
perception o him reflects the way he really is In light o these kinds oquestions we consider various models o perception Direct realism or
example suggests that we see the objects themselves (Buddy) directly and
thus we see things the way they really are But various philosophers have
rejected this due to particular problems that it aces Others have argued
or an indirect realism (or representationalism) which says we do not see
the objects themselves (Buddy) but rather we see some mental represen-
tation o the objects Indirect realists argue however that these represen-
tations genuinely reflect the objects themselves But this view also has
some problems Finally some have argued or a phenomenological view
o perception which says that we have only mental representations and
that these may or may not reflect reality itsel Afer considering each
perspective we along with a growing number o philosophers argue or
a return to some orm o direct realism Yet it is a chastened orm o
direct realism which recognizes the very real possibility o misperception
In chapter 1048631 we address the issue o epistemic justification In par-
ticular we deal with the question Do we need justification We first
describe what it means to have epistemic justification and then survey
the debate between internalists and externalists about whether or not we
need justification Justification we note has to do with being rational
about our belies An internalist believes that in order to be rational one
must have evidence or onersquos belies In other words i a person believes
that God exists then she must have reasons or thinking this way i sheis to be rational Tis is called internalism because it says that a person
must have epistemic access to the reasonsmdashshe must possess them in-
ternally Externalists disagree suggesting that or a person to be rational
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1617
What Is Epistemology 10486251048631
it may not be necessary or him to have reasons and evidence that
support his belies Afer all they contend all o us believe various kinds
o things without examining the evidential basis or them Afer consid-ering this debate between internalists and externalists we conclude that
both have some positives
Chapter 1048632 surveys an important issue in epistemologymdashintellectual
virtue and virtue epistemology We describe what a virtue is noting that
it is some quality or characteristic that produces well-being By contrast
vices are those qualities or characteristics that are detrimental to the
person While virtue is normally considered to be a moral issue episte-mologists also have a long practice o incorporating virtues into their
epistemology In this chapter we explain how certain intellectual qual-
ities like studiousness humility honesty courage and careulness aid
and assist us in properly apprehending the world in which we live In
other words these intellectual qualities help us to see clearly and avoid
epistemological error
In chapter 1048633 we address an issue that is unique to our introduction to
epistemologymdashdivine revelation Specifically we consider whether or
not there is such a thing as divine revelation We argue that we are within
our epistemic rights or believing that God has revealed himsel to us In
act we argue that this revelation comes in two basic ormsmdashgeneral and
special As Christian theologians have long argued natural revelation is
the revelation that God has given us o himsel which is ound in the
created order We consider the various kinds o theological scientific
and philosophical objections to natural revelation that have been given
but argue that these arguments are not convincing We conclude that this
revelation is limited in what it can tell us about God and nonphysical
things but it is there nonetheless Special revelation is the revelation that
God has given us about himsel that comes to us through Jesus Christ
and the Bible In this chapter we are especially interested in our rationale
or believing that Jesus and the Bible give us inormation about God In
short our approach is christocentric We argue that because o the resur-rection o Jesus we have good reason to think that he was who he claimed
to be I that is the case then he gives us inormation about God and so
does the Bible
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions
8132019 How Do We Know By James K Dew Jr and Mark W Foreman
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullhow-do-we-know-by-james-k-dew-jr-and-mark-w-foreman 1717
10486251048632 H983151983159 D983151 W983141 K983150983151983159
Chapter 10486251048624 concludes the book by exploring the problem o skep-
ticism and the possibility o having certainty Skepticism offers a grim
outlook about the possibilities o knowledge We first survey the differentkinds o skepticism such as methodological skepticism metaphysical
skepticism and Pyrrhonian skepticism Afer this we look at the leading
skeptical thinkers throughout history to see why they said what they did
Here we look at Pyrrho o Ellis Sextus Empiricus Reneacute Descartes David
Hume and Immanuel Kant Afer considering the different reasons that
skeptics have given we argue that they offer good reminders that epis-
temic error is always possible but they do not justiy their ultimate con-clusions Tere are good reasons or thinking that we can have knowledge
Here we consider these reasons but point out that this still does not yield
certainty or the vast majority o our belies
C983151983150983139983148983157983155983145983151983150
Each o these issues will be dealt with in more detail in the ollowing
chapters Students may choose to read this book straight through rom
beginning to end or may decide to read one particular chapter at a time
depending on their interest or need Te book is designed so that either
one o these approaches will work
Discussion Questions
983089 What kinds o issues does epistemology deal with
983090 Despite the suspicions o some why is epistemology such an im-portant discipline
Copyrighted Material www ivpress compermissions