This text presents a clear and philosophically sound method for identifying, interpreting, and evaluating arguments as they appear in non-technical sources. It focuses on a more functional, real-world goal of argument analysis as a tool for figuring out what is reasonable to believe rather than as an instrument of persuasion. Methods are illustrated by applying them to arguments about different topics as they appear in a variety of contexts - e.g., newspaper editorials and columns, short essays, informal reports of scientific results, etc.

In his widely influential two-volume work, Warrant: The Current Debate and Warrant and Proper Function, Alvin Plantinga argued that warrant is that which explains the difference between knowledge and true belief. Plantinga not only developed his own account of warrant but also mapped the terrain of epistemology. Motivated by Plantinga's work, fourteen prominent philosophers have written new essays investigating Plantingian warrant and its contribution to contemporary epistemology. The resulting collection, representing a broad array of views, not only gives readers a critical perspective on Plantinga's landmark work, but also provides in one volume a clear statement of the variety of approaches to the nature of warrant within contemporary epistemology, and to the connections between epistemology and metaphysics. Positions covered include internalism and externalism, reliabilism, coherentism and foundationalism, virtue theories, and defensibility theories. Alvin Plantinga responds to the essays in his own contribution.

An NRA insider exposes the hidden aims and tactics of America's most notorious special interest group. The National Rifle Association is the most feared lobbying powerhouse in America, known for its aggressive tactics and intensely secretive culture. In this revealing, controversial book, lifetime NRA member and former lobbyist Richard Feldman unmasks the inner workings, influence, and goals of this political behemoth, from internecine warfare, media manipulation, and executive bankrolling to gun control bills and school massacres. Richard Feldman (Rindge, NH) is a former Reagan White House appointee to the Commerce Department. He became the regional political director for the National Rifle Association in the 1980s and served as chief lobbyist and spokesman for the firearm industry's national trade association in the '90s. He is the founder of MLS Communications and is a top political and public affairs consultant.

Elm is more than just a cutting-edge programming language, it's a chance to upgrade the way you think about building web applications. Once you get comfortable with Elm's refreshingly different approach to application development, you'll be working with a clean syntax, dependable libraries, and a delightful compiler that essentially eliminates runtime exceptions. Elm compiles to JavaScript, so your code runs in any browser, and Elm's best-in-class rendering speed will knock your socks off. Let's get started! Elm in Action teaches you how to build well-designed, highly performant web applications using the Elm language. As you read, you'll follow an application called Photo Groove that will show you how to structure your application's domain and behaviour, how to maintain a pleasantly modular architecture, and how to deliver a quality product using the Elm language. Along the way, you'll learn how to interact smoothly with browser functionality, servers, and JavaScript libraries, as well and picking up a few tricks for building fluid, intuitive user experiences. If you're new to functional programming, you'll also gain a practical understanding of techniques that will make you a better developer no matter what you're writing! Written for readers comfortable with web application development in JavaScript. No experience with Elm or functional programming required. Key Features Getting started with the Elm language Scalable design for production web applications Single-page applications in Elm Testing your applications Richard Feldman is a programmer and entrepreneur who loves to push the limits of browser-based programming. He's a front-end engineer at NoRedInk and a well-known member of the Elm community

Disagreement is common: even informed, intelligent, and generally reasonable people often come to different conclusions when confronted with what seems to be the same evidence. Can the competing conclusions be reasonable? If not, what can we reasonably think about the situation? This volume examines the epistemology of disagreement. Philosophical questions about disagreement arise in various areas, notably politics, ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion: but this will be the first book focusing on the general epistemic issues arising from informed disagreement. Ten leading philosophers offer specially written essays which together will offer a starting-point for future work on this topic.

Disagreement is common: even informed, intelligent, and generally reasonable people often come to different conclusions when confronted with what seems to be the same evidence. Can the competing conclusions be reasonable? If not, what can we reasonably think about the situation? This volume examines the epistemology of disagreement. Philosophical questions about disagreement arise in various areas, notably politics, ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion: but this will be the first book focusing on the general epistemic issues arising from informed disagreement. Ten leading philosophers offer specially written essays which together will offer a starting-point for future work on this topic.

Evidentialism is a theory of knowledge whose essence is the traditional idea that the justification of factual knowledge is entirely a matter of evidence. Earl Conee and Richard Feldman present the definitive exposition and defence of this much-contested theory. They argue that evidentialism is an asset virtually everywhere in epistemology, from getting started legitimately to refuting skepticism. The volume collects the authors' renowned work on the topic and adds substantial new material, making it the prime resource in evidentialism for all epistemologists.

Evidentialism is a view about the conditions under which a person is epistemically justified in having a particular doxastic attitude toward a proposition. Evidentialism holds that the justified attitudes are determined entirely by the person's evidence. This is the traditional view of justification. It is now widely opposed. The essays included in this volume develop and defend the tradition. Evidentialism has many assets. In addition to providing an intuitively plausible account of epistemic justification, it helps to resolve the problem of the criterion, helps to disentangle epistemic and ethical evaluations, and illuminates the relationship between epistemic evaluations of beliefs and the evaluation of the methods used to form beliefs. These issues are all addressed in the essays presented here. External world skepticism poses the classic problem for an epistemological theory. The final essay in this volume argues that evidentialism is uniquely well qualified to make sense of skepticism and to respond to its challenge. Evidentialism is a version of epistemic internalism. Recent epistemology has included many attacks on internalism and has seen the development of numerous externalist theories. The essays included here respond to those attacks and raise objections to externalist theories, especially the principal rival, reliabilism. Internalism generally has been criticized for having unacceptable deontological implications, for failing to connect epistemic justification to truth, and for failing to provide an adequate account of what makes basic beliefs justified. Each of these charges is answered in these essays. The collection includes two previously unpublished essays and new afterwords to five of the reprinted essays; it will be the definitive resource on evidentialism for all epistemologists.