This is an in-depth introduction to philosophical attempts to find a method for reaching justified beliefs, and to use it to get rich quick with no money down. No, wait, that's knowledge and realty . When Goofus wants somebody to believe what he believes, he threatens them, or lies to them, or gets a naughty neurosurgeon to implant the belief in their brain. Gallant, on the other hand, tries to use rational arguments to justify his belief, to explain why he knows .
Epistemology is an attempt to discover which such methods are gallant and which are goofy.
This seems circular. Metaphysics Let's suppose things aren't so dismal. Suppose we normally acquire knowledge from perception, and from our rational attempts to form theories to explain what we observe. We use such procedures in science, but also in our everyday, commonsense, thinking. First, some important questions seem impossible to settle by scientific or commonsense observation and theory.