What's the Point of Knowledge?

Reviews / Votes

Recommended. * N.D. Smith, CHOICE * This book presents a radical and promising reconception of the nature and function of knowledge. * Catherine Z. Elgin, Professor of the Philosophy of Education, Harvard University * This book is a welcome addition to the literature on the nature of knowledge. Hannon approaches the topic by way asking about the point of epistemic evaluation; his 'function-first' account goes on to develop Edward Craig's idea that the point of knowledge ascriptions is to identify good informants. Hannon contends that this approach affords a greater payoff than has been recognized, and his argument for this should be of great interest to epistemologists. * Sanford C. Goldberg, Professor of Philosophy, Northwestern University * What's the Point of Knowledge? does a splendid job of setting out in detail what a Craig-style function-first approach to the theory of knowledge would look like. This monograph will be of tremendous interest to anyone working in contemporary epistemology. * Duncan Pritchard, Chancellor's Professor of Philosophy, UC Irvine, and Professor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh * This is an excellent work. Michael Hannon very helpfully and sensitively unpacks the function-first methodology, including what Edward Craig has said on the matter. This is not, however, a re-hashing of Craig's views: Hannon develops his ideas in philosophically independent ways. Chapters individually and cumulatively are very impressive, covering a wide range of topics. They do not neglect any significant position, and respond to a truly impressive sample of contributors. Hannon is a clear and powerful thinker. I recommend this book highly. * David Henderson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln *