Explicationist Epistemology and the Explanatory Role of Knowledge
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21584302 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Erik J Olsson (0000-0002-4207-3721, Lund University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 41-60 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for General Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0925-4560 • E-ISSN: 0044-2216 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10838-020-09520-8 |
| OpenAlex | W3048214373 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
It has been argued that much of contemporary epistemology can be unified under Carnap’s methodology of explication, which originated in the neighboring field of philosophy of science. However, it is unclear to what extent epistemological theories that emphasize the explanatory role of knowledge fit into this picture, Kornblith’s natural kind epistemology and Williamson’s knowledge first approach being cases in point. In this connection, I raise three questions. Can we harvest the insights of these approaches without loss in the more standard and less idiosyncratic explicationist framework? Can we do so without falling prey to prominent criticism raised against those approaches? Finally, do the approaches come out as coherent under an explicationist rendering? I argue that in Kornblith’s case the answer to all three questions is essentially in the affirmative. Much of the knowledge first approach is also translatable into explicationism. However, from that perspective, Williamson’s central argument for treating knowledge as undefinable, referring to persistent yet unsuccessful attempts to solve the Gettier problem, amounts to an overreaction to that problem. Leaving explicationism aside, I ask, in the penultimate section, what Williamson’s own philosophical method really amounts to
Aside · Criticism · Epistemology · Explication · Formal epistemology · Philosophy of science · Social epistemology · Sociology · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Knowledge and its Place in Nature
Knowledge and its Limits
The Philosophy of Philosophy
Explication as a Method of Conceptual Re-engineering
Normativity and Epistemic Intuitions
Epistemology: Contexts, Values, Disagreement
Thought Experiments and Possibilities
Knowledge in a Social World
Carnapian explication, formalisms as cognitive tools, and the paradox of adequate formalization
Knowledge’ as a natural kind term
Replies to Alvin Goldman, Martin Kusch and William Talbott
Experimental Explication
Kornblith's Naturalistic Epistemology
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |