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Reduction in epistemology

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Title
Reduction in epistemology
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Beddor
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Bob
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1985-
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Bob Beddor
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author
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Egan
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Andy
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Andy Egan
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chair
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Goldman
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Alvin
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Alvin Goldman
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Advisory Committee
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co-chair
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Jonathan
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Jonathan Schaffer
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Sosa
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Ernest
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Ernest Sosa
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Advisory Committee
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Weatherson
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Brian
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Brian Weatherson
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Advisory Committee
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outside member
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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theses
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2016
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2016-05
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2016
Place
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xx
Language
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eng
Abstract (type = abstract)
This dissertation centers on two questions: (1) Can we explain epistemic facts in terms of non-epistemic facts? (2) What is the most explanatorily basic notion within the epistemic realm? Many philosophers are attracted to the idea that the epistemic is reducible to the natural: facts about epistemic justification, knowledge, and the like can be explained in terms of non-epistemic facts. How could such a reduction be achieved? Chapter One explores the two leading proposals in the literature: process reliabilism and mentalist evidentialism. I argue that both of these approaches flounder when it comes to explaining epistemic defeat (cases where an individual gets some evidence in favor of a belief, which is then trumped by countervailing evidence). The standard process reliabilist treatment of defeat faces counterexamples, and leading evidentialist treatments of defeat either fall victim to the same fate or fail to be reductive. Chapter Two explores a different reductive strategy. I suggest that we should pursue the path of semantic ascent: we should focus on epistemic linguistic expressions and seek to define them without recourse to epistemic notions. Specifically, I develop an ‘attitudinal’ semantics for a variety of epistemic expressions, according to which epistemic expressions are analyzed in terms of the conative attitudes that give rise to them. The resulting semantics is reductive; in addition, it offers to explain some of the striking commonalities between epistemic and ethical discourse. Chapter Three considers reduction within the epistemic domain. Recent epistemology has seen the rise of ‘Knowledge First’ epistemology, according to which knowledge is the most basic explanatorily basic epistemic notion. I advance an alternative picture, according to which epistemic certainty is explanatorily fundamental. After developing a context-sensitive semantics for certainty ascriptions, I go on to put certainty to explanatory work. I argue that a wide range of epistemic phenomena—including epistemic modals, evidential probability, and knowledge itself—can be profitably analyzed in terms of certainty.
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Topic
Philosophy
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Topic
Knowledge, Theory of
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_7192
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electronic resource
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (x, 122 p.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Bob Beddor
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Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3ZW1P1V
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights

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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Name
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Beddor
GivenName
Bob
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Permission or license
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2016-04-13 09:16:49
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Name
Bob Beddor
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Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
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Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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2016-04-13T19:27:04
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