Socializing epistemology : the social dimensions of knowledge /

This is a collection of previously unpublished papers on social epistemology. Contributors include Alvin Goldman, Philip Kitcher, Hilary Kornblith, and Helen Longino, all of whom have made important contributions to discussions in naturalized epistemology. Most of the contributors start from a traditional (justified-true-belief) conception of epistemology and attempt to find a place for "social factors." The exceptions here are Miriam Solomon and Helen Longino. Rather than representing feminist epistemology, Longino voices her support for social studies of science. Solomon's view that biasing factors are essential to scientific progress is a marked departure from traditional epistemology. Unfortunately, more "radical" social epistemologists appear only as the objects of criticism in this collection. For example, there are no papers by any of the sociologists of knowledge who are often referred to. The collection is not interdisciplinary, although Margaret Gilbert's discussion of collective belief will interest social scientists, and James Cox and Goldman's economic approach to journalism should interest economists and readers in communications departments. This collection points to many new research areas in epistemology and will give the reader a feel for the excitement surrounding epistemology in its new naturalistic guise. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. S. M. Downes; University of Utah