ABSTRACT
Virtue epistemologists argue for the centrality of our cognitive virtues to epistemological theorizing. One of the most influential proposals in epistemology has been virtue epistemology. A virtue epistemologist would be inclined to explain a subject's positive epistemic justification in terms of her manifestation of epistemic virtue, rather than explaining it in terms which make no reference to epistemic virtue. One of the most central issues facing contemporary virtue epistemology concerns how best to construe epistemic virtues. E. Sosa's virtue epistemology trades on a broader metaphysical picture of dispositions and powers, where the manifestation of a cognitive power mirrors the manifestation of dispositions and powers more generally. Virtue epistemology offers the potential of alternative goals for epistemology to focus upon. In particular, by stressing the epistemological primacy of epistemic ability, virtue epistemology brings the higher epistemic standings like understanding and wisdom back to the fore of epistemological theorizing.
