An Externalist, Contextualist Epistemology of Disagreement about Religion
Abstract
The essay uses developments in contextualism and the epistemology of disagreement to talk about the epistemic challenge of religious diversity. It first describes the central issues within the epistemology of disagreement while relating this study to religious disagreement. I describe disagreement conditions that make knowledge retention extremely challenging even for an externalist about justification. The essay then presents and defends an externalist variety of contextualism designed specifically to respond to such extreme challenges. The benefits of a contextualist approach to disagreement are appealing even in light of one of its most severe criticisms, namely, the warranted assertability maneuver