On Folk Epistemology: How we Think and Talk about Knowledge

On Folk Epistemology explores how we ascribe knowledge to ourselves and others. Empirical evidence suggests that we do so early and often in thought as well as in talk. Since knowledge ascriptions are central to how we navigate social life, it is important to understand our basis for making them. Factors that have nothing to do with knowledge may lead to systematic mistakes in everyday ascriptions of knowledge. These mistakes are explained by an empirically informed account of how ordinary knowledge ascriptions are the product of cognitive heuristics that are associated with biases. Mikkel Gerken identifies such biases by drawing on both cognitive psychology and traditional philosophical reflection. However, this volume also exemplifies that the study of folk epistemology requires background philosophical reflection on the nature of knowledge. Consequently, On Folk Epistemology helps to lay the foundation for the study of folk epistemology.