Illuminating the Mind

Jonathan Stoltz is a professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) where he has been teaching since 2006. His scholarly research is focused on the areas of epistemology and the philosophy of logic, both in the 'Western' tradition and in the Indian and Tibetan traditions of philosophy.

• PrefaceChapter 1: Preliminaries1. Two Histories2. Core Terms and Concepts3. Pramana4. The Episodic Nature of Cognition/Knowledge5. Main Themes of the BookChapter 2: Knowledge1. Defining Knowledge?2. Revealing the Unknown3. Non-deceptive Cognition4. Analytic Theories of Knowledge and 'The Standard Analysis'5. Pramana and ReliabilismChapter 3: Perception1. Perception and Non-conceptual Awareness2. Perceptual Judgment3. Four Types of Perception4. Reflexive Perception and Self-awareness5. Perception, Illusion, and HallucinationChapter 4: Inference1. Two Forms of Inference2. Inference and Conceptual Cognition3. The Structure of Inferential Reasoning4. Evidence and Entailment5. Epistemic ClosureChapter 5: Testimony1. The Nyaya Account and the Buddhist Response2. Reductive and Non-reductive Theories of Testimonial Knowledge3. Speakers, Hearers, and Knowledge4. The Transmission Theory of TestimonyChapter 6: Ignorance1. Mistaken Cognition2. Ignorant Perception3. Ignorant Veridical ConceptionChapter 7: Skepticism1. Skepticism and Skeptical Scenarios2. Knowledge and Instruments of Knowledge3. Nagarjuna and the Epistemic Regress Problem4. The Structure of KnowledgeChapter 8: Sensitivity & Safety1. Knowledge, Perception, and Inference2. Tracking and Sensitivity3. Safety and Knowledge4. Discrimination and AlternativesChapter 9: Internalism & Externalism1. The Etiology of Cognition2. Analyzing Knowledge and Internalism3. Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Determination of Knowledge Status4. Factive Mental Episodes and ExternalismChapter 10: Experimental & Cross-cultural Epistemology1. Philosophical Intuitions and Experimental Epistemology2. Cross-cultural Intuitions about Knowledge3. The Value of Buddhist EpistemologyNotesBibliographyIndex

Illuminating the Mind skillfully relates various Buddhist positions to contemporary debates in analytic epistemology, carefully navigating the issues that arise from the fundamental differences in orientation between the two traditions. Stoltz has clearly demonstrated that Buddhist philosophers can be valuable contributors to contemporary epistemology.