Social epistemology: From Keith Lehrer to Alvin I. Goldman (Chinese text)

Unlike traditional epistemology, which concerns itself mainly with the conditions of knowledge and justification with respect to the information possessed by an individual, social epistemology analyses the conditions of knowledge and justification with respect to the body of information possessed by society members as a whole. In the study of social epistemology, Keith Lehrer's Consensualism and Alvin Goldman's Veritism are by far the two most well-established theories. The two theories are drastically different in their accounts of the conditions of knowledge and justification. Censensualism emphasizes the interaction between members of society and argues for an account of justification on the basis of the notion of weighted consensus. According to Veritism, whether a belief is justified depends on how fecund the relevant belief-forming practice is in producing true beliefs.; This thesis aims to contribute towards a better understanding of social epistemology through a critical examination of the views of Lehrer and Goldman. Chapter One provides a characterization of the fundamental questions in social epistemology. It also sheds light on a number of problem areas through a survey of some major approaches in the field. Chapters Two to Five seek to provide a critical and thorough examination of Consensualism and Veritism: the two theories are explained, scrutinized, and compared, and their major difficulties identified. Ways to deal with such difficulties are also suggested and then evaluated. It is concluded that Lehrer's account tends to over-emphasize epistemic duties that society imposes on an individual while Goldman ignores them unduly. Chapter Six is a constructive attempt to synthesize Consensualism and Veritism. The result of such a synthesis, Noninterventionism, as I hope to show, is a theoretical framework that, if properly elaborated, will preserve the strengths of both theories while avoiding their difficulties.