Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge

Since I am neither philosopher nor student of philosophy, I am not qualified to comment on this book for those perspectives. I am at best an interested and educated layman who read it without benefit of teacher or class, and so I shall address the work from that persective, which may be useful to others similarly situated.Professor Audi here presents theories of knowledge organized by sources and structure, rather that historically by the philosophers who espoused them. No matter that Hume said this or Descartes that: the focus is on major concepts and ideas. Since my interest was in ideas themselves rather than the history of their development, I found this approach congenial.Although Professor Audi writes with admirable clarity, I cannot pretend that I understood the work in its entirety, a reflection of my own limitations, surely not his. And yet I think I profited from the struggle. I appreciate now as never before the inextricability of philosophy and human mental and sensory process, the ambiguities of knowing and the relationship between knowing and justified belief, the elusiveness of certainty, the seductiveness of experience, and the complex character of scientific and moral (and religious) beliefs.Within an academic setting, I suspect this would be an excellent basic text. If, like me, you are not a specialist and are interested in the subject of epistemology outside a formal academic setting, I would recommend this book only if you are tenacious, highly motivated, and willing to read and re-read slowly. It is not for the impatient reader looking for instant enlightenment.In sum, this is a book whose rewards can be great for the determined reader.

Robert Audi's _Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge_, is another fine entry in the Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy series. In this one, a leading epistemologist presents an excellent and accessible overview of the philosophy of knowledge.The text is helpfully divided into three major subtopics.In the first, "Sources of knowledge, justification, and truth," Audi devotes a chapter each to perception, memory, consciousness, reason, and testimony. In the second, "The structure and growth of justification and knowledge," Audi dedicates one chapter to the nature of inference and one to the problem of foundationalism vs. coherentism.And in the third, "The nature and scope of justification and knowledge," Audi overviews the nature of knowledge (e.g. justified true belief, or the "right kind" of justified true belief?); the specific nature of scientific, moral, and religious knowledge; and skepticism (including various possible responses thereto).The text is clear and intelligible throughout and makes a thorough introduction to the subject well suited either for classroom use or for the intelligent lay reader flying solo. And the "short annotated bibliography" is a well-chosen source of suggestions for further reading.Readers unfamiliar with the field may also want to pick up _ A Companion to Epistemology_ (edited by Jonathan Dancy and Ernest Sosa), a fine collection of 250 alphabetical entries by various respected philosophers. And the _Oxford Companion to Philosophy_ (edited by Ted Honderich) is an excellent general reference which no student of philosophy should be without.(The Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy series seems to be very good in general, by the way; Michael Loux's _Metaphysics_ is also highly recommended.)