OUP is one of the most important English-language publishers in the area of Philosophy
Some years ago, School of Humanities professors Dr Claudio de Almeida and Dr Rodrigo Borges began to discuss the need to have a reference material on the Gettier Problem, one of the fundamental problems of Epistemology (or Theory of Knowledge). Although this is a hotly debated topic in contemporary epistemology, up until now, a massive collection of articles on the aforementioned topics was yet to be published. Because of that, Borges came up with the idea of the book Explaining Knowledge: New Essays on the Gettier Problem and presented it to Rutgers University professor Dr Peter Klein. As this was a very ambitious project, Almeida was invited to join the team.
Shortly thereafter, as the team was complete, the book was submitted to Oxford University Press (OUP). The publisher embraced the project and offered total support to professors. OUP is one of the most important English-language publishers in the area of Philosophy. Books published with OUP, whose authors and organizers work in the most influential departments of Philosophy all over the world, are regarded as remarkable achievements”, says Almeida.
Dr Peter Klein, a partner of PUCRS professors, is one of the twenty most important contemporary epistemologists, as stated in the reference book Blackwell companion to epistemology. His two visits to PUCRS – in 1998 – served to strengthen his professional ties with Almeida and Borges. The partnership has produced many other benefits: five graduate students from the Graduate Program in Philosophy have been welcomed by Klein at Rutgers University for a split PhD. “The quality of other graduate programs in Brazil is very good but we are the only university in the country to have international status in the area of Epistemology as we publish many of our materials in reference publishers”, says Almeida.
The Gettier Problem
Plato reflects upon the question “what is knowledge?” in two of his works. There has never been an important challenge to his response – which was actually the best hypothesis put forth by Socrates – until US Philosopher Edmund Gettier refuted this hypothesis in a three-page article published in 1963. Since then, scholars have been incessantly trying to find solutions for this problem so much so that contemporary epistemological literature has become unintelligible for those who ignore the problem.
The book by Almeida and Borges is the most comprehensive collection of new articles on the topic. The collaborative work of 26 specialists, including some of the most influential contemporary philosophers, have made it a reality.
