EPISTEMIC JUSTIFICATION by Richard Swinburne ( 9780199243792 )

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Title:

EPISTEMIC JUSTIFICATION

By:

Richard Swinburne

Format:

Paperback

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£46.49

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£40.68

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ISBN 10:

0199243794

ISBN 13:

9780199243792

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Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

21 June, 2001

Pages:

270

Description:

Richard Swinburne offers an original treatment of a question at the heart of epistemology: what makes a belief a rational one, or one which the believer is justified in holding? He maps the many different accounts of epistemic justification, and distinguishes the different kinds of justification that they identify. He argues that while most kinds of justification are worth having, only one kind -internalist justification - can guide a believer's actions. And heshows how probability theory can illuminate the role of empirical evidence in the justification of belief.

Synopsis:

Richard Swinburne offers an original treatment of a question at the heart of epistemology: what makes a belief a rational one, or one which the believer is justified in holding? He maps the various totally different and purportedly rival accounts that philosophers give of epistemic justification ('internalist' and 'externalist'), and argues that they are really accounts of different concepts. He distinguishes (as most epistemologists do not) between synchronic justification (justification at a time) and diachronic justification (synchronic justification resulting from adequate investigation) - both internalist and externalist. He argus that most kinds of justification are worth having because (for different reasons) indicative of truth. However, it is only justification of intermalist kinds that can guide a believer's actions. Swinburne goes on to show the usefulness of the probability calculus in elucidating how empirical evidence makes beliefs probably true: every proposition has an intrinsic probability (an a priori probability independent of empirical evidence) which may be increased or decreased by empirical evidence.This innovative and challenging book will refresh epistemology and rewrite its agenda.

Publication:

Imprint:

Clarendon Press

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Returnable

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