Here’s another volume in the “Questions in Christian philosophy” series that distills what I imagine would be a semester-long class. I enjoyed the earlier one on Logic especially, and found this one on epistemology helpful too. Though I read theological works regularly, this material is new to me. The subject itself, not the author’s writing, can be challenging. At times philosophy has split the hair too finely on what it is to “know”, and yet how powerful is the thought that we can “know” something.

As for the book itself, it’s clearly written. Often the examples are catchy and effective to make the idea clear. I imagine Dew and Foreman would be engaging teachers. The only problem I had with the book is that too often they wouldn’t pick a side. They never failed to give you the strengths and weaknesses of every viewpoint, but it almost seemed like they never champion any one of them. They never really forged their own new way forward either. Since this was newer material for me, perhaps I wanted that feature more than usual. Especially I wanted to know how a Christian ought to think as so many of the philosophers were not Christian. I am not saying they didn’t give information that you could dig out, perhaps, and find your own opinion. But that design would be better for those who are well-versed on the subject. I hope my one criticism of the book is not actually more one of my own self than of the authors, but I’ll leave that to your judgment.

Still, when I have a question on epistemology, I’ll be reaching for this book.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.