Contextualism and the Problem of the External World

Bibliographic Data

ID10352502
AuthorsRam Neta (0000-0002-0903-9468, University of Utah, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume66
Issue1
Pages1-31
Publication date2003-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8205 • E-ISSN: 1933-1592
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1933-1592.2003.tb00241.x
OpenAlexW2023634229
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited52

A skeptic claims that I do not have knowledge of the external world. It has been thought that the skeptic reaches this conclusion because she employs unusually stringent standards for knowledge. But the skeptic does not employ unusually high standards for knowledge. Rather, she employs unusually restrictive standards of evidence. Thus, her claim that we lack knowledge of the external world is supported by considerations that would equally support the claim that we lack evidence for our beliefs about the external world. These considerations do not threaten the truth of our ordinary attributions of evidence, however, for such attributions are context‐sensitive in their semantics. It is argued that this solution to the problem of the external world enjoys all of the benefits. and suffers none of the problems, of other solutions to the problem of the external world

Analytic philosophy · Attribution · Contemporary philosophy · Context (archaeology · Contextualism · Epistemology · Linguistics · Semantics (computer science · Skepticism · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Free Will and Agency · History · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Psychology · Social Psychology

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