A Critical Introduction to Testimony

Reviews / Votes

Gelfert's book is the very first systematic survey of the expanding philosophical sub-discipline that he calls "the epistemology of testimony". The work is engagingly written and a model of clarity. [...] His coverage of the field is remarkable, with the principal theoretical issues all addressed and a good survey of some of the main areas of practical application, notably assessment of legal testimony and adjudication between expert witnesses. [...] Gelfert's hybrid theory has many virtues.

It overcomes the weaknesses of the principal rival accounts: unlike anti-reductionist default acceptance theories, it avoids the charge of licensing gullibility, while approving the hearer's trusting attitude under appropriate circumstances; and, unlike reductionist accounts and certain other hybrid accounts, it avoids the charge of placing impossible burdens on recipients of testimony, while insisting on
due wariness under suspicious circumstances. It also does full justice to the roles of social settings and collaborative enterprises in the justification of testimony.

A further and notable virtue of Gelfert's inference to the best explanation based account is its flexibility, openness and suggestiveness of further lines of research. * Studies in History and Philosophy of Science * Gelfert's book, the first systematic overview of the epistemology of testimony, does an excellent job of introducing beginners to this rapidly growing field ... The book is a model of clarity, deftly combining an evenhanded mapping of the known territory with forays into new regions, and will be invaluable to epistemologists in both their teaching and their research. * The Philosophical Quarterly * Gelfert has left no stone in the epistemology of testimony unturned, providing an impressively comprehensive treatment of the issues in this vast area, and doing so with clarity and fair-mindedness. This is a must-read for anyone interested in social epistemology. -- Jennifer Lackey, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies, Northwestern University, USA Axel Gelfert has written a lucid, comprehensive, fair and balanced introduction to the epistemology of testimony, clearly useful for students and scholars alike. If you're interested in learning about how we learn from others, this is the place to start. -- Peter Graham, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, USA