Inferring and Explaining

PrefaCe How is philosophy learned? A better question is how can thinking skills be acquired? Te thinking in question involves attending to basic structures of thought. Tis can be done well or badly, intelligently or ineptly. But doing it well is not primarily amatter of acquiring a body of knowledge. It is more like playing a piano well. It is a “knowing how” as much as a “knowing that.” —sImon BlacKBurn 1 Practical Epistemology Tis is a book about what I am calling practical epistemology. It refects two of my most deeply held prejudices as a teacher. I believe that abstract questions in academic philosophy are intrinsically interesting not just to profession- als but to smart, inquisitive students as well. I also believe that carefully refecting on the great questions inWesternphilosophy (What is knowl- edge? Is it possible? Does God exist? Do we have genuine freewill?—to say nothing of the equally important moral, political, and legal questions that philosophers have posed and attempted to answer) improves one’s general critical thinking skills. So I would claim that a good philosophy course is good for a lot more than just general education credits and will be of value no matter what your major is or career aspirations are. Te book begins with three classic questions in the theory of knowledge—What is the value of truth? Canwe knowanything?What is the nature of knowledge in the frst place? It then introduces a little logic and a particular theory of evidence evaluation—inference to the best explanation. Tis view of argument analysis is the corner- stone of my entire discussion throughout the vii