Epistemology from an Evaluativist Perspective

• Published in: Philosophers' imprint Vol. 18; p. 1
• Main Author: Field, Hartry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Epistemology; Realism
• ISSN: 1533-628X

The paper presents a kind of normative anti-realist view of epistemology, in the same ballpark as recent versions of expressivism. But the primary focus of the paper is less on this meta-epistemological view itself than on how it should affect ground-level issues in epistemology: for instance, how it should deal with certain forms of skepticism, and how it allows for fundamental revision in epistemic practices (deductive, inductive and perceptual). It is hoped that these methodological consequences will seem attractive independent of the normative anti-realism. Indeed, some normative realists seem to embrace the view on skepticism, but it is argued that their position is unstable: the realism undermines the methodology. The general theme of the paper is that the issue of normative realism is deeply entwined with issues of methodology, in strong contrast to the common claim that meta-epistemological views in the tradition of expressivism have no first order impact.