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Quakerism (the Religious Society of Friends) emerged in the seventeenth century, during a time when philosophical debates about the nature of knowledge led to the emergence of modern science. The Quakers, in conversation with early modern philosophers, developed a distinctive epistemology rooted in their concept of the Light Within: a special internal sense giving access to divine insight. The Light Within provided illumination both to properly understand the Bible and to ‘read'the Book of Nature. In Quaker Epistemology, Laura Rediehs argues that Quaker epistemology can be thought of as an expanded experiential empiricism, integrating ethical and religious knowledge with scientific knowledge. This epistemology has carried through in Quaker thought to the present day and can help address today's epistemological crisis. This work will be of great interest to both philosophers interested in the epistemological implications of Quaker thought, and scholars of Quaker Studies interested in connecting Quaker thought to philosophical historical epistemology.

In Hinge Epistemology, eminent epistemologists investigate Wittgenstein's concept of basic certainty or'hinge certainty'. The volume begins by examining the salient features of'hinges': Are they propositions that enjoy a special kind of non-evidential justification? Are they objects of knowledge or ways of acting mistaken for known propositions? Various attempts are then made to integrate hinges in the development of a viable epistemology: Can they shed light on the conditions of satisfaction for knowledge and justification? Do they offer a solution to scepticism? Finally, the application of hinges is explored in such areas as common knowledge and intellectual loyalty. The volume attests to the importance of hinge certainty and Wittgenstein's On Certainty for mainstream epistemology.

This is the first edited collection entirely dedicated to non-evidentialist epistemology or non-evidentialism—the controversial view that evidence is not required in order for doxastic attitudes to enjoy a positive epistemic status. Belief or acceptance can be epistemically justified, warranted, or rational without evidence. The volume is divided into three section: the first focuses on hinge epistemology, the second offers a critical reflection about evidentialist and non-evidentialist epistemologies, and the third explores extensions of non-evidentialism to the fields of social psychology, psychiatry, and mathematics.

This book of original papers offers fresh approaches to skepticism–a topic in philosophy with a noble two-millennia history; and one that even inaugurated modern philosophy in Descartes's Meditations. Particularly with the rise of scientific forms or models of philosophy, skepticism today is often treated as a dead-end not worthy of serious reflection. In contrast to this prevailing attitude, the skepticisms discussed in these pages are alive. Here are assembled leading thinkers who claim at least some forms of skepticism to be true (e.g. skepticism about ethics or metaphysics) or insightful enough to be a lasting source of philosophical enlightenment and inspiration.