The epistemology of inquiry
: individuals, groups & institutions

  • Lewis Dylan Ross

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis (PhD)

Abstract

Inquiring—roughly, the attempt to answer a question—is one of the most common intellectual undertakings. This thesis is comprised of a set of four essays that investigate the epistemology of inquiry. The first essay looks at one key epistemic state with which we end inquiry, viz understanding; the second essay examines collective inquiry; the third essay considers the normative role of curiosity in motivating inquiry; and the fourth essay discusses inquiry in the legal system. These essays will advance our understanding of what motivates inquiry, the mental states involved in inquiring, the sorts of norms that govern inquiry, and what continuities and discontinuities there are between how individuals and various types of collective inquire into different types of question.
Date of Award2 Dec 2020
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of St Andrews
SupervisorJessica Anne Brown (Supervisor), Matthew McGrath (Supervisor), Brian James Weatherson (Supervisor) & Tim Mulgan (Supervisor)

Access Status

  • Full text open

Cite this

'