Sanford Goldberg, “Relying on Others: An Essay in Epistemology” (Oxford UP, 2010)
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What is Sanford Goldberg’s background and how did he become interested in epistemology?
Hello and welcome to New Books in Philosophy. My name is Robert Telees. I host new books in philosophy with Carrie Figter. In our bimonthly podcast, we'll be talking with philosophers about their newly published books. Today I'll be talking with Professor Sanford Goldberg about his new book, Relying on Others. Which was published with Oxford University Press this year. Sandy Goldberg is professor of philosophy at Northwestern University. It's difficult to deny that in our efforts to know and understand the world around us, we rely heavily on others. Colleagues give us reports about what went on in the office while we were away on vacation. Eyewitnesses tell us about what they saw at the scene of the crime.
And newscasters, journalists, and commentators inform us about the social and political events of the day. If left strictly to our own devices, our knowledge would reduce dramatically. And perhaps more importantly, our cognitive lives would become in various ways impoverished. But one may wonder about the nature of this reliance. Is my relying on my colleagues' report about what went on in the office while I was away on vacation in any important way? Different from my relying on my eyes when I see a red object. Is my colleague's testimony simply another bit of data? to consider when forming my beliefs about what went on in the office. Or is there some deeper story to be told about the nature of our epistemic reliance on others?
In relying on others, Goldberg proposes. That when we rely on others, we count on their cognitive processes. So the justification for our beliefs then Sometimes is located, at least in part in the In the heads of other people. Now, back in nineteen seventy three, Hilary Putnam published an influential paper about meaning, in which he declared Cut the pie any way you like, meanings just ain't in the head. Oldberg's view, it seems, has it that justification ain't in the head of individual believers, but rather resides in many heads at once. This is a provocative thesis. So let's turn to the interview. Hello, Sandy Goldberg.
Bob, how are you?
Good. Uh how are you doing today? Doing well, thanks. Excellent. Welcome to New Books in Philosophy.
Thanks very much for having me.
Right. Today on New Books in Philosophy we're talking with Sandy Goldberg about his new book with Oxford University Press. Relying on others. Now this book presents a novel view about the nature of our epistemological relations with others. Uh but before we explore your views, Sandy. Uh, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into philosophy and particularly how you got into epistemology?
Sure. Um Getting into philosophy was actually something that started probably in high school. Uh I had a wonderful, wonderful high school teacher in English my senior year, Mr. Coppola, who um I have no idea where he is now, but he was a wonderful teacher and Uh he raised many philosophical issues that I realized were philosophical only years later. Uh I found I found myself really enjoying his class and so when I told him about it, he said maybe you should consider studying philosophy in college. Was this a philosophy class in in high school? English class in high school. Okay. But he was a person who had l I guess a love of philosophy. In my high school they didn't actually have philosophy.
So
see,
I had a philosophy class in high school with an English teacher. It was called Introduction to Philosophy.
Ah, so you were fortunate we actually had it uh shoved into English. When in fact it was philosophy. Um I
I wonder how many philosophy classes there are at the high school level in in in the United States. But anyway, please continue.
So that was it. So I I decided I'd take a little bit of of philosophy in college. I don't know that I was going to major in it, but what I realized is that in other classes, when I was in another class, I would often ask questions where the teachers would respond by saying, Well, that's actually something that we don't address here. If you're interested in that, go ask the philosophy department.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Sanford Goldberg’s background and how did he become interested in epistemology?
0:05–6:55
2
How does Goldberg define testimonial reliance and why does it matter for our knowledge?
6:55–15:01
3
What is the “extendedness hypothesis” and how does it challenge individualist epistemology?
15:01–22:26
4
How do internalism and externalism differ in explaining justification for testimony?
22:26–29:34
5
What are the main objections to the extendedness hypothesis and how does Goldberg respond?
29:34–37:04
6
Why does Goldberg argue that epistemic responsibility cannot rely on a purely individualist view?
37:04–44:54
7
How does the book connect testimonial epistemology to broader social and political concerns?
44:54–52:11
8
What future projects is Goldberg pursuing after *Relying on Others*?
52:11–59:48
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