Foreign thinker
John Greco
John GrecoEpistemology, Virtue Epistemology, and Social EpistemologyAmericanb. 1961
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John Greco is an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at Georgetown University who primarily researches epistemology, especially virtue epistemology, skepticism, and social epistemology. He is one of the leading figures in contemporary virtue epistemology and has written important works on the nature of knowledge, epistemic normativity, and the transmission of knowledge.
John Greco, born April 24, 1961, is an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at Georgetown University. He received his B.A. from Georgetown University in 1983 and, under the supervision of Ernest Sosa, earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Brown University in 1989. Before joining Georgetown University in 2020, Greco taught at Saint Louis University.
The main focus of Greco's research is epistemology. Virtue epistemology, skepticism, epistemic normativity, and social epistemology are among the most important subjects of his work. He has also conducted research on the philosophy of religion, mind, and action, as well as on philosophers such as Thomas Reid, David Hume, G. E. Moore, and Wittgenstein.
His major books include Putting Skeptics in Their Place: The Nature of Skeptical Arguments and Their Role in Philosophical Inquiry (2000), Achieving Knowledge: A Virtue-Theoretic Account of Epistemic Normativity (2010), and The Transmission of Knowledge (2020). He has also been the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Skepticism.
In virtue epistemology, Greco links knowledge to the abilities and epistemic virtues of the knowing agent and seeks to explain why knowledge has value beyond mere true belief. In his later works, especially The Transmission of Knowledge, his attention to the social dimensions of knowledge and how it is transmitted between persons and through testimony has become more prominent. In this way, his research extends from the analysis of individual epistemic abilities to the problem of human epistemic dependence on one another.
Greco served as editor of the journal American Philosophical Quarterly from 2013 to 2020. His standing in contemporary epistemology is recognized above all for his efforts to formulate and develop virtue epistemology and apply it to issues such as skepticism, the value of knowledge, and social knowledge.