Abstract

In this brilliantly conceived volume, William Talbott takes aim at the ‘Proof Paradigm’, composed of five erroneous principles, which as he sees it has dominated Western epistemology since the ancient Greeks, and proposes to replace it with a superior alternative, one that involves on his part daring speculation about the metaphysical necessity of the principles of proper reasoning. One may at first glance be inclined to dismiss Talbott's project: Who now adheres to the Proof Paradigm, which, among other things, holds that knowledge is based on infallibly known premises and what is deduced from them? Does the book merely echo ‘battles long ago’? Talbott would reply that although strict adherence to the Proof Paradigm has gone by the boards, the efforts to replace it remain in the grip of some of its principles. Moreover, recognition of the Proof Paradigm's failure has led many people to embrace scepticism and relativism, a fact Talbott deems of deep concern. These challenges to knowledge lead to and exacerbate unfortunate trends in our society, in particular prejudiced thinking, the nature of which he explains with both care and passion in Chapter 7. Talbott discusses a vast number of issues in the book, and in what follows, I shall be able to comment on only a few of these.