Epistemologys prime evils

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Authors
Bondy, Patrick R.
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Issue Date
2021-05-26
Type
Article
Keywords
Debasing demon , Evil demon , Justification , Knowledge , New evil demon , Skepticism
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Citation
Bondy, P. (2021). Epistemologys prime evils. International Journal for the Study of Skepticism, 169(3), 1-43. doi:10.1163/22105700-bja10021
Abstract

This essay addresses what we can call epistemology’s Prime Evils. These are the three demons epistemologists have conjured that are the most troublesome and the most difficult to dispel: Descartes’ classic demon; Lehrer and Cohen’s New Evil Demon; and Schaffer’s Debasing Demon. These demons threaten the epistemic statuses of our beliefs—in particular, the statuses of knowledge and justification—and they present challenges for our theories of these epistemic statuses. This paper explains the key features of these three central demons, highlights their family resemblances and differences, and attempts to show that a certain kind of internalist view of justification provides the resources to handle these demons well.

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Publisher
Brill Academic Publishers
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Book Title
Series
International Journal for the Study of Skepticism;Vol. 169, Iss. 3
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
2210-5697
2210-5700
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