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We might think that appearances give a
prima facie justification for belief. This is the foundation for Phenomenal Conservatism in epistemology. McCain and Moretti adapt this view by integrating it with the view that epistemic justification is a matter of explanatory relations between one's evidence and propositions supported by that evidence.
List of contents
- Part I: Phenomenal Conservatism: Promising but Incomplete
- 1: Phenomenal Conservatism and Its Promises
- 2: PC Problems: Defeat and Reflective Awareness
- Part II: Phenomenal Explanationism
- 3: The Nature of Appearances
- 4: Phenomenal Explanationism
- 5: Phenomenal Explanationism's Global Ambitions
- Part III: In Defense of Phenomenal Explanationism
- 6: Phenomenal Explanationism versus Conservatism
- 7: The Skeptical Challenge
About the author
Kevin McCain is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His primary research areas are epistemology and philosophy of science.
Luca Moretti is Reader of Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. His research areas include general epistemology, social epistemology, philosophy of education, and philosophical logic.
Summary
We might think that appearances give a prima facie justification for belief. This is the foundation for Phenomenal Conservatism in epistemology. McCain and Moretti adapt this view by integrating it with the view that epistemic justification is a matter of explanatory relations between one's evidence and propositions supported by that evidence.
Additional text
Appearance and Explanation: Phenomenal Explanation in Epistemology offers an engaging epistemological search for a complete theory of epistemic justification. The book is organized in three parts. The first explores what Michael Huemer characterized as phenomenal conservativism, the theory that one ought to believe that things are as they appear in absence of reason to think otherwise...Parts 2 and 3 explore McCain and Moretti's theory of phenomenal explanation, which builds on phenomenal conservativism in an attempt to construct a complete theory of epistemic justification. Part 2 provides a clear exploration of the theory, and part 3 defends the theory from criticism. Although technical and rigorous, this book is clear and accessible throughout.
