The Need for Social Epistemology

Abstract Epistemology is one of the oldest fields of philosophy. Plato, for example, devoted several dialogues, or portions thereof, to epistemology, including Meno, Phaedo, Republic, and Theaetetus. Epistemology is as lively a subject today as in many periods, though its intricacies are not widely known outside academic philosophy. Much of today’s epistemology, like the epistemology of yesteryear, is focused on skepticism. But there is also a novel development in epistemology, the emergence of social epistemology. This paper’s aim is to sketch the contours of social epistemology and to show why its rapid and extensive growth is to be encouraged.