Believing in Accordance with the Evidence: New Essays on Evidentialism (Synthese Library Book 398)

This volume explores evidentialism, a major theory of epistemic justification. It contains more than 20 papers that examine its nuances, its challenges, as well as its future directions. Written by leading and up-and-coming epistemologists, the papers cover a wide array of topics related to evidentialism. The contributors present both sides of the theory: some are advocates of evidentialism, while others are critics. This provides readers with a comprehensive, and cutting-edge, understanding of this epistemic theory. Overall, the book is organized into six parts: The Nature of Evidence, Understanding Evidentialism, Problems for Evidentialism, Evidentialism and Social Epistemology, New Directions for Evidentialism, and Explanationist Evidentialism. Readers will find insightful discussion on such issues as the ontology of evidence, phenomenal dogmatism, how experiences yield evidence, the new evil demon problem, probability, the Path Principle, norms of credibility, intellectual virtues, wisdom, epistemic justification, and more. This title provides authoritative coverage of evidentialism, from the latest developments to the most recent philosophical criticisms. It will appeal to researchers and graduate students searching for more information on this prominent epistemological theory Front Matter ....Pages i-x Evidentialism: A Primer (Kevin McCain)....Pages 1-4 Front Matter ....Pages 5-5 From Experience to Evidence: Sensory and Testimonial (Todd R. Long)....Pages 7-21 The Evidence in Evidentialism (Matthew McGrath)....Pages 23-37 Seemings, Reasons, and Knowledge: A Defense of Phenomenal Conservatism (Trent Dougherty)....Pages 39-51 Phenomenal Dogmatism, Seeming Evidentialism and Inferential Justification (Berit Brogaard)....Pages 53-67 Front Matter ....Pages 69-69 Between Belief and Disbelief (Richard Feldman, Earl Conee)....Pages 71-89 Metacognition As Evidence for Evidentialism (Matthew Frise)....Pages 91-107 Externalist Versions of Evidentialism (Michael Bergmann)....Pages 109-123 Front Matter ....Pages 125-125 An Evidentialist Social Epistemology (William D. Rowley)....Pages 127-143 Credibility and the Distribution of Epistemic Goods (Jennifer Lackey)....Pages 145-168 Evidentialism and Moral Encroachment (Georgi Gardiner)....Pages 169-195 Front Matter ....Pages 197-197 A Probabilistic Critique of Evidentialism (Michael Huemer)....Pages 199-222 Standing in a Garden of Forking Paths (Clayton Littlejohn)....Pages 223-243 Evidentialism, Time-Slice Mentalism, and Dreamless Sleep (Andrew Moon)....Pages 245-259 No Kind of Reason Is the Wrong Kind of Reason (Miriam Schleifer McCormick)....Pages 261-276 Front Matter ....Pages 277-277 Evidentialism, Hope, and Wisdom: Are Evidentialist Theories of Wisdom Hopeless? (Sharon Ryan)....Pages 279-291 A Central Role for Epistemic Virtues in Evidentialism (Sarah Wright)....Pages 293-305 Whither Evidentialist Reliabilism? (Juan Comesaña)....Pages 307-325 Front Matter ....Pages 327-327 Evidentialism and Explanatory Fit (Richard Fumerton)....Pages 329-343 Propositionalism and McCain’s Evidentialism (Jonathan L. Kvanvig)....Pages 345-357 Is Evidential Fit Grounded in Explanatory Relations? (Matthias Steup)....Pages 359-373 Explanationist Evidentialism: A Defense (Kevin McCain)....Pages 375-391 Back Matter ....Pages 393-395