Knowledge and Lotteries

By John Hawthorne,

Book cover of Knowledge and Lotteries

Book description

Knowledge and Lotteries is organized around an epistemological puzzle: in many cases, we seem consistently inclined to deny that we know certain propositions, while crediting ourselves with knowledge of propositions that imply them. In its starkest form, the puzzle is this: we do not think we know that a given…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Knowledge and Lotteries as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

If you buy a lottery ticket, it is very probable that it will lose, but you do not know that it will lose, otherwise you might as well throw it away. The book uses such simple examples to think very deeply about the nature of knowledge and the way common sense knowledge is threatened by chance. It critically assesses the idea that what we mean by the word ‘know’ depends on the context in which we are speaking, and explores the subtly different idea that whether you know something can depend on how much practical difference it makes to you.…

Want books like Knowledge and Lotteries?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Knowledge and Lotteries.

Browse books like Knowledge and Lotteries

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in epistemology, metaphysics, and contemporary philosophy?

Epistemology 48 books
Metaphysics 102 books