Unnatural Doubts

Epistemological Realism and the Basis of Skepticism

By: Michael Williams

Write A Review

Paperback | 20 March 1996

At a Glance

Paperback
416 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.2 x 235

Paperback

RRP $110.00

$84.75

23%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $21.19 with

Ships in 3 to 5 business days

In Unnatural Doubts, Michael Williams constructs a masterly polemic against the very idea of epistemology, as traditionally conceived. Although philosophers have often found problems in efforts to study the nature and limits of human knowledge, Williams provides the first book that systematically argues against there being such a thing as knowledge of the external world. He maintains that knowledge of the world consitutes a theoretically coherent kind of knowledge, whose possibility needs to be defended, only given a deeply problematic doctrine he calls "epistemological realism." The only alternative to epistemological realism is a thoroughgoing contextualism.

Industry Reviews

"[Many readers] will find their thoughts on the topic deepened and challenged by Williams's powerful and penetrating inquiry."--Marie McGinn, The Journal of Philosophy "Williams has a feeling for the larger intellectual significance of skepticism and for its phenomenology. He attacks the skeptic's citadel with boldness, determination, and strategic sense... [H]is treatment of a large range of other writings on the subject ... combines sympathy with acute criticisms."--John Skorupski, Mind

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Philosophy Epistemology & The Theory of Knowledge History of Western Philosophy

Preface	p. xii
Pessimism in Epistemology I
Unnatural Doubts?	p. 1
Philosophy versus Common Life	p. 2
The New Humeans	p. 10
The Epistemologist's Dilemma	p. 17
Unusual Questions	p. 22
Definitive Refutation	p. 31
The Burden of Theory	p. 40
The Priority of Experience	p. 47
Epistemology and Radical Scepticism	p. 47
Scepticism and Epistemological Priority	p. 51
Presupposition or By-product?	p. 57
Agrippa's Trilemma	p. 60
Knowledge and the Senses	p. 68
The Neutrality of Experience	p. 73
Sceptical Hypotheses	p. 79
Dreaming and Knowing	p. 84
Epistemological Realism	p. 89
Generality and Epistemic Priority	p. 89
Externalism and Traditional Epistemology	p. 93
Knowledge as an Object of Theory	p. 101
Explanation or Deflation?
Foundationalism	p. 114
Methodological Necessity	p. 121
Priority Reconsidered	p. 125
Scepticism in Context	p. 129
Examples and Paradigms
The Best-case Argument
Knowledge by Example
Generic and Specific
Knowing and Claiming
The Scope of Knowledge
Examples and Paradigms	p. 161
Ordinary Language and Philosophical Diagnosis	p. 166
Scepticism and Reflection	p. 172
Philosophy as Reflective Understanding	p. 172
Diagnosis and Disappointment	p. 175
Reflection and Detachment	p. 18
Relevant Alternatives and Epistemic Closure	p. 185
The Two-factor Theory	p. 191
Error and Estrangement	p. 201
Practical Knowledge and Radical Doubt	p. 205
Epistemology as Pure Inquiry	p. 211
The Unreality of Knowledge	p. 218
Scepticism and Objectivity	p. 225
Realism and Scepticism	p. 225
Truth and justification	p. 228
Scepticism without Truth	p. 237
Objectivity and Progress	p. 217
Epistemology Naturalized	p. 4
Truth and Context
Coherence and Truth
What is a Coherence Theory?	p. 267
Radical Holism	p. 267
Coherence and Explanation	p. 272
Local and Global	p. 279
Internalism and Epistemic Priority	p. 292
Criterial justification	p. 299
Scepticism and Charity	p. 306
The Instability of Knowledge	p. 317
Closure Again	p. 317
Knowledge and Reliability	p. 318
Context and Closure	p. 322
Knowing and Telling	p. 326
Relevant Alternatives	p. 330
Tracking the Truth	p. 336
Closure Regained	p. 346
The Instability of Knowledge	p. 350
The Humean Condition	p. 355
Notes	p. 360
Index	p. 383
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Unnatural Doubts

Epistemological Realism and the Basis of Skepticism

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Epistemology & The Theory of Knowledge

On Pedantry

A Cultural History of the Know-it-All

The Infinite Alphabet

And the Laws of Knowledge

A Critical Introduction to Knowledge-First Epistemology

Bloomsbury Critical Introductions to Contemporary Epistemology

Critique of Pure Reason

Penguin Classics

Mindset

The New Psychology of Success

Transition Imaginaries

Contested Temporalities, Affective Politics, and Decolonial Technology

Transition Imaginaries

Contested Temporalities, Affective Politics, and Decolonial Technology

Why Read Pascal Today?

Why Read Them Today

Why Read Pascal Today?

Why Read Them Today

Decolonizing Pedagogy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Elements in Critical Issues in Teacher Education

Decolonizing Pedagogy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Elements in Critical Issues in Teacher Education

Cosmos and Psyche : Intimations of a New World View

Intimations of a New World View

The Book of Memory

Or, How to Live Forever

Herald of a Restless World

How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People

The Meaning of Life

The true ingredients of fulfilment

Wonderstruck

How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think

Hamlet's Mill

An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time

Steps to an Ecology of Mind

Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology

The Spontaneous Healing of Belief

Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits

Conversations on Violence

An Anthology

Collins Classics - A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Collins Classics

Ways of Being

Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence

A Critical Introduction to Knowledge-First Epistemology

Bloomsbury Critical Introductions to Contemporary Epistemology

The Bloomsbury Handbook to Slavoj Žižek

This product is categorised by