How Do We Know? An Introduction to Epistemology, 2nd ed. (Questions in Christian Philosophy)
Overview
What does it mean to know something? Can we have confidence in our knowledge?
Epistemology, the study of knowledge, can often seem like a daunting subject. And yet few topics are more basic to human life. We are inquisitive creatures by nature, and the unending quest for truth leads us to raise difficult questions about the quest itself. What are the conditions, sources, and limits of our knowledge? Do our beliefs need to be rationally justified? Can we have certainty?
In this primer on epistemology, James Dew and Mark Foreman guide readers through this discipline in philosophy. This second edition has been expanded with new material and now serves as the first volume in IVP’s Questions in Christian Philosophy series. By asking basic questions and using clear, jargon-free language, they provide an entry into one of the most important issues in contemporary philosophy.
- Addresses basic questions of epistemology
- Features expanded with new material
- Explores the conditions, sources, and limits of our knowledge
- What Is Epistemology?
- What Is Knowledge?
- Where Does Knowledge Come From?
- What Is Truth, and How Do We Find It?
- What Are Inferences, and How Do They Work?
- What Do We Perceive?
- Do We Need Justification?
- Can We Be Objective in Our View of the World?
- What Is Virtue Epistemology?
- Do We Have Revelation?
- How Certain Can We Be?
Top Highlights
“Additionally, this view would violate the law of noncontradiction. According to this law, it is impossible for something to be true while its exact opposite is also true at the same time.” (Page 43)
“Epistemologically speaking, justification refers to a person having reasons or evidence for his beliefs” (Page 77)
“What we find here is that any given belief may work for one person but not for another.” (Page 42)
“So, in short, for pragmatists truth is what works.” (Page 42)
“And so, just because the belief is helpful or useful to a person does not mean that the belief is true.” (Page 42)
This second edition of How Do We Know? is an exciting, timely provision for the body of Christ. Well-suited to serve as a textbook and a tool for the thoughtful lay reader, Dew and Foreman have managed to write one of the clearest, most accessible introductions to epistemology I have ever read. The selection of topics covered is excellent and highly relevant for equipping believers to engage competently with the fundamental ideas that constitute our increasingly secularized culture. A delightful feature of the book is its regular and careful interaction with key figures in the history of philosophy. I joyfully recommend it.
—J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and author of Scientism and Secularism
Dew and Foreman’s How Do We Know? is a remarkably clear and concise discussion of central issues in epistemology. They explain difficult concepts as simply as possible without compromising accuracy, and they provide helpful illustrations throughout to ensure that readers will not get bogged down in the thicket of technical terminology. Epistemology is a field that can be as forbidding as it is important, and Dew and Foreman have done a wonderful service by giving us such an accessible treatment of the subject. Christian readers will find the book especially useful, as it includes discussions of faith, divine revelation, and other issues related to religious epistemology. Another virtue of the book is the authors’ discussion of many major figures in the history of philosophy as well as significant contemporary epistemologists. I highly recommend this text to anyone interested in epistemology as well as students of theology and philosophy of religion.
—James S. Spiegel, Taylor University
- Title: How Do We Know?: An Introduction to Epistemology
- Authors: Jr. James K. Dew, Mark W. Foreman
- Edition: Second Edition
- Series: Questions in Christian Philosophy
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2020
- Pages: 155
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of; Christian philosophy
- ISBNs: 9780830851898, 9780830855124, 0830851895, 0830855122
- Resource ID: LLS:HOWKNOWEPIST2ED
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:35:26Z
James K. Dew Jr. (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Birmingham) is president and professor of Christian philosophy at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the coauthor of Philosophy: A Christian Introduction and Understanding Postmodernism: A Christian Perspective and the coeditor of God and Evil: The Case for God in a World Filled with Pain and God and the Problem of Evil: Five Views.
Mark W. Foreman (PhD, University of Virginia) is professor of philosophy and religion at Liberty University. He is also the author of Prelude to Philosophy: An Introduction for Christians and Christianity and Bioethics: Confronting Clinical Issues.