Two Existential Theories of Knowledge

About the Book

In chapter 1 of this book, I explore four paradigms of justification: epistemic foundationalism and coherentism (which I call the traditional paradigms) and pragmatism and contextualism (the existential paradigms). I argue that the existential paradigms are pragmatically superior. In chapter 2, I build a bridge between pragmatist thinkers like James and Dewey, contextualists such as Wittgenstein, and existentialists such as Sartre and Camus. After arguing that all three share a unique first philosophy, I distinguish epistemic pragmatism and contextualism by pointing out three key features of each. In chapter 3, I codify many popular so-called neopragmatists such as Rorty, Putnam, Annis, Alston, Quine, and Brandom according to my distinction.

About the Author

Joseph W. Long earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Purdue University in 2005. He is the author of The Grad Student’s Guide to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and has published articles on epistemology, religious pragmatism, and racism. He currently teaches at Butler University.