A Methodological Alternative to Epistemological Theory-Building: Reply to John Greco

Abstract

This paper clarifies the methodology of my book, How to Take Skepticism Seriously (OUP, 2024). The book aims to dispose of external world skepticism without building or appealing to epistemological theory. John Greco urges this can’t be done. In response, this paper clarifies what is meant by “epistemological theorizing” in this context. I then address Greco’s argument that no refutation of skepticism can be satisfactory as a refutation unless it involves epistemological theory. I show how an approach like mine, which works from within the commitments, practices, and procedures of ordinary epistemic life, can explain why the skeptic is wrong and yield deeper understanding of the contours of ordinary epistemic life as well as of what knowledge and reasonable belief require. Three moments from my book illustrate how my methodology yields refutation, explanation, and understanding—without engaging in the form of theorizing that Greco demands.