The A Priori: Its Significance, Sources, and Extent

Traditionally, a justification for believing something is a priori is if, and only if, it is independent of experience. Throughout Western philosophy since Plato, some of the most divisive questions have been whether a priori justification exists, how it is possible, and how far it reaches. This book is structured around these three main questions. The first question has recently been modulated as to concern the significance of a priori justification: given the unclarities and presuppositions attached to standard explications of the notion of a priori justification, is it still a useful notion for epistemology? In a tight dialectic, the chapters in this part either attack or defend the theoretical importance of that notion. The second part concerns the sources of a priori justification: since a priori justification is not grounded in experience--our arguably best understood source of justification--in what can it be grounded? The chapters in this part explore the possibility that a priori justification is grounded either in intuition or in understanding. The third part concerns the extent of a priori justification: beyond core cases like mathematical proof, what methods can yield a priori justification? The chapters in this part investigate to what degree and why methods like introspection, testimony, and others have an import on a priori justification. Overall, the book showcases and furthers some of the latest contemporary trends in thinking about these questions.

1 - Three Questions about the A Priori
2 - A Defense of the Significance of the A Priori: A Posteriori Distinction
3 - Reply to Casullo's Defence of the Significance of the A Priori: A Posteriori Distinction
4 - Williamsonian Scepticism about the A Priori
5 - More Williamsonian Scepticism about the A Priori: A Posteriori Distinction
6 - The Theoretical Significance of the A Priori: A Posteriori Distinction
7 - Hybrid Virtue Epistemology and the A Priori
8 - In Defence of Rational Insight
9 - The Mystery of the Mystery of Rational Insight
10 - Intuition and A Priori Justification
11 - The Underdetermination of the Meaning of Logical Words by Rules of Inference
12 - The Conceptual Route to Apriority
13 - Can Epistemic Analyticity Explain the A Priori?
14 - Experience and the A Priori
15 - Why Can't Armchair Philosophers Naturalize the Mind?
16 - Testimony and the Scope of the A Priori
17 - A Priori Knowledge and Persistent (Dis)agreement

Dylan Dodd held postdoctoral fellowships at Syracuse University, the University of St Andrews, and the University of Aberdeen, and taught philosophy at several institutions in the United States before leaving academia. His research was in epistemology and the philosophy of language, amongst other areas of philosophy. Elia Zardini completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy, mathematics, and history at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and the Technical University of Berlin. He obtained his PhD in philosophy from the University of St Andrews in 2008. Since then, he has held positions at the University of St Andrews, the University of Aberdeen, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of Barcelona, and the University of Lisbon. He is currently a Ramón y Cajal Researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid, Chief Research Fellow at the Higher School of Economics, Associate Member of LanCog, and Chief Editor of Disputatio.