Radical skepticism endorses the extreme claim that large swaths of our ordinary beliefs, such as those produced by perception or memory, are irrational. The best arguments for such skepticism are, in their essentials, as familiar as a popular science fiction movie and yet even seasonedepistemologists continue to find them strangely seductive. Moreover, although most contemporary philosophers dismiss radical skepticism, they cannot agree on how best to respond to the challenge it presents.In the tradition of the 18th century Scottish philosopher, Thomas Reid, Radical Skepticism and Epistemic Intuition joins this discussion by taking up four main tasks. First, it identifies the strongest arguments for radical skepticism, namely, underdetermination arguments, which emphasize the gapbetween our evidence and our ordinary beliefs based on that evidence. Second, it rejects all inferential or argument-based responses to radical skepticism, which aim to lay out good noncircular reasoning from the evidence on which we base our ordinary beliefs to the conclusion that those beliefs areprobably true. Third, it develops a commonsense noninferential response to radical skepticism with two distinctive features: (a) it consciously and extensively relies on epistemic intuitions, which are seemings about epistemic goods, such as knowledge and rationality, and (b) it can be endorsedwithout difficulty by both internalists and externalists in epistemology. Fourth, and finally, it defends this commonsense epistemic-intuition-based response to radical skepticism against a variety of objections, including those connected with underdetermination worries, epistemic circularity,disagreement problems, experimental philosophy, and concerns about whether it engages skepticism in a sufficiently serious way.

Radical Skepticism and Epistemic Intuition

Politics & Social Sciences

Bergmann, Michael

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

Justification without Awareness: A Defense of Epistemic Externalism

Virtually all philosophers agree that for a belief to be epistemically justified, it must satisfy certain conditions. Perhaps it must be supported by evidence. Or perhaps it must be reliably formed. Or perhaps there are some other "good-making" features it must have. But does a belief's justification also require some sort of awareness of its good-making features? The answer to this question has been hotly contested in contemporary epistemology, creating a deep divide among its practitioners. Internalists, who tend to focus on scientific or theoretical beliefs as the ideal, insist that such awareness is required for justification. Externalists, who think children's ordinary beliefs in obvious facts are paradigm cases of justified belief, say it isn't required. Michael Bergmann's book offers a decisive refutation of internalism and a sustained defense of externalism.

Oxford University Press, USA

Virtually all philosophers agree that for a belief to be epistemically justified, it must satisfy certain conditions. Perhaps it must be supported by evidence. Or perhaps it must be reliably formed. Or perhaps there are some other 'good-making' features it must have. But does a belief's justification also require some sort of awareness of its good-making features? The answer to this question has been hotly contested in contemporary epistemology, creating a deep divide among its practitioners. Internalists insist that such awareness is required for justification whereas externalists insist that it isn't. The first part of Michael Bergmann's book argues that internalism faces an inescapable dilemma: either it leads to vicious regress problems and, ultimately, radical skepticism, or it is entirely unmotivated. The second part of the book begins by developing the author's own externalist theory of justification, one imposing both a proper function and a no-defeater requirement. Bergmann concludes by demonstrating the failure of two prominent critiques of externalism, namely, that it is infected with epistemic circularity and that it cannot respond adequately to skepticism. Together, the two parts of the book provide a decisive refutation of internalism and a sustained defense of externalism. Moreover, they do so while placing a high priority on making the author's opponents feel that their positions and objections are understood.

Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham

Adherents of the Abrahamic religions have traditionally held that God is morally perfect and unconditionally deserving of devotion, obedience, love, and worship. The Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures tell us that God is compassionate, merciful, and just. As is well-known, however, these same scriptures contain passages that portray God as wrathful, severely punitive, and jealous. Critics furthermore argue that the God of these scriptures commends bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia, condones slavery, and demands the adoption of unjust laws-for example, laws that mandate the death penalty for adultery and rebellion against parents, and laws institutionalizing in various ways the diverse kinds of bigotry and oppression just mentioned. In recent days, these sorts of criticisms of the Hebrew Bible have been raised in new and forceful ways by philosophers, scientists, social commentators, and others. This volume brings together eleven original essays representing the views of both critics and defenders of the character of God as portrayed in these texts. Authors represent the disciplines of philosophy, religion, and Biblical studies. Each essay is accompanied by comments from another author who takes a critical approach to the thesis defended in that essay, along with replies by the essay's author.

Murray, Michael J.

Rea, Michael C.

Adherents of the Abrahamic religions have traditionally held that God is morally perfect and unconditionally deserving of devotion, obedience, love, and worship. The Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures tell us that God is compassionate, merciful, and just. As is well-known, however, these same scriptures contain passages that portray God as wrathful, severely punitive, and jealous. Critics furthermore argue that the God of these scriptures commends bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia, condones slavery, and demands the adoption of unjust laws-for example, laws that mandate the death penalty for adultery and rebellion against parents, and laws institutionalizing in various ways the diverse kinds of bigotry and oppression just mentioned. In recent days, these sorts of criticisms of the Hebrew Bible have been raised in new and forceful ways by philosophers, scientists, social commentators, and others. This volume brings together eleven original essays representing the views of both critics and defenders of the character of God as portrayed in these texts. Authors represent the disciplines of philosophy, religion, and Biblical studies. Each essay is accompanied by comments from another author who takes a critical approach to the thesis defended in that essay, along with replies by the essay's author.

A complete step-by-step guide to making a feature film on digital video, by an award-winning writer-director. Also contains much specific advice on the various aspects of filmmaking.

Trifling With Fate: How to Make a Digital Video Feature Film

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

Separate Star, Inc.

In this study of Shakespeare's sonnets the authors--a psychoanalyst and a director--examine what the speaker reveals about himself to his readers.

What Silent Love Hath Writ: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets

Literature & Fiction

Bergmann, Martin S.

History & Criticism

In this study of Shakespeare's Sonnets the authors, a psychoanalyst and a director, examine what the speaker (the "I" of the poems) reveals about himself to his readers. By reading many sonnets together the authors build up a picture of this character, one Shakespeare's most interesting and unusual creations. The reader emerges with a thorough grasp of the major themes of Shakespeare's sonnets.

INNOVATION FROM THE GROUND UP: Using IncubatorU's 5-Step Methodology to Transform Your Organization

Business & Money

Management & Leadership

Best Seller Publishing, LLC

Heimat los! Aus dem Leben eines Juedischen Emigranten

Granach, Gad

Recher, Hilde

Broder, Henryk M.

Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bergmann, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bergmann, Michael

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bergmann, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Radical Skepticism and Epistemic Intuition

Justification without Awareness: A Defense of Epistemic Externalism

Justification without Awareness: A Defense of Epistemic Externalism

Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham

Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham

Trifling With Fate: How to Make a Digital Video Feature Film

What Silent Love Hath Writ: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets

What Silent Love Hath Writ: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets

INNOVATION FROM THE GROUND UP: Using IncubatorU's 5-Step Methodology to Transform Your Organization

Heimat los! Aus dem Leben eines Juedischen Emigranten