Review by Choice Review
The first edition (CH, Apr'93, 30-4140) provided short articles on topics and figures of interest within contemporary epistemology and the history of epistemology, arranged in alphabetical order. These now appear, supplemented with several new entries, as part 3 of the second edition; perhaps half are devoted to either historical figures or topics. Part 1 consists of review essays of around ten pages each on topics of contemporary interest (skepticism and closure, contextualism, foundations and coherence, internalism-externalism, common sense, perception, virtue epistemology, social epistemology, and Bayesian epistemology). These review essays may be helpful to novices but break little new ground. Part 2 offers 20 self-profiles by important epistemologists of the 20th and 21st century. The self-profiles too often focus on what the authors want readers to remember about them, as opposed to what many may think are their most important contributions (e.g., Alvin Plantinga's focuses mostly on his famous argument against evolutionary epistemology). The historical entries in part 3 were not revised for the second edition, but should have been. The cost of this book is too high for classroom use. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries supporting lower-level undergraduates through graduate students. N. D. Smith Lewis and Clark College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
