Description
Book SynopsisIn this book, Michael Huemer and Bryan Frances debate whether and how we can gain knowledge of the world outside of our own minds. Starting with opening statements, the debate moves through two rounds of replies.
Frances argues that we lack knowledge because, for example, we cannot rule out the possibility that we are brains in vats being artificially stimulated in such a way as to create an illusion of living in the real world. Huemer disagrees that we need evidence against such possibilities in order to gain knowledge of the external world, maintaining instead that we are entitled to presume that things are as they appear unless and until we acquire specific grounds for thinking otherwise. The authors go on to discuss how one should think about controversial issues wherein the experts persistently disagree. Frances argues that we should generally withhold judgment about such issues or at least greatly reduce our confidence. Huemer agrees that people are often overconfident
Table of Contents
Foreword 1. The Illusion of Knowledge 2. The Reality of Knowledge 3. The Skeptic’s Response to the Realist 4. The Realist’s Response to the Skeptic 5. When Will It Ever End?: Reply to Huemer’s Response 6. It Ends Here: Response to Francis’s Reply
