"Philosophers have long been concerned about what we know and how we know it. Increasingly, however, a related question has gained prominence in philosophical discussion: what should we believe and why? This volume brings together twelve new essays that address different aspects of this question. The essays examine foundational questions about reasons for belief, and use new research on reasons for belief to address traditional epistemological concerns...

"An argument may fail because it is unsound. A trivial conclusion is another fault. Do all the sceptic's arguments have one or both of these deficiencies? This book conjectures that they do. Some sceptical arguments are entirely sound. Some have non-trivial conclusions. But none, it is conjectured, has both of these advantages."

A wide-ranging argument by a renowned anthropologist that the capacity to believe is what makes us human Why are so many humans religious? Why do we daydream, imagine, and hope? Philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and historians have offered explanations for centuries, but their accounts often ignore or even avoid human evolution. Evolutionary scientists answer with proposals for why ritual, religion, and faith make sense as adaptations...

Analyzing epistemic sophistication in terms of the stringency of a person's standards, her skills in using evidence, and her wisdom in employing proper standards, this book argues for a radical conception of epistemology as being concerned with the duties that arise during the process of belief formation.