ABSTRACT
The Pragmatic account of inquiry just canvassed has significant implications for the pragmatic conception of epistemology. This chapter explores this conception of epistemology and deals with the dominant view of the subject. The main goal of epistemic studies is to clarify and codify norms of inquiry that are true to the actual norms embodied in best practices. The aim of naturalizing epistemology is to better understand the nature of inquiry, and thus put its practices on firmer foundations. Perhaps the inquiry model and the knowledge model of epistemology are simply different enterprises, and both are worth pursuing. The conviction that solutions will be left standing at the end of inquiry is unrealistic. In practice, inquiry is evaluated along instrumental lines. The Gettier problem can serve as an interesting example of how adopting the knowledge model can lead to worries that an inquiry-focused epistemology can help us avoid.
