The A Priori: Its Significance, Sources and Extent

Oxford University Press, 2026.

Under the general editorship: Zardini E., D. Dodd

Traditionally, a justification for believing something is a priori if and only if it is independent of experience. Throughout Western philosophy ever since Plato, some of the most divisive questions have been whether a priori justification exists, how it is possible, and how far it reaches. This book is structured around these three main questions. The first part concerns a recent modulation of the question of the existence of a priori justification in terms of its significance: given the unclarities and presuppositions attaching to standard explications of the notion of a priori justification, is it still a useful notion for epistemology? In a tight dialectic, the chapters in this part either attack or defend the theoretical importance of that notion. The second part concerns the sources of a priori justification: since a priori justification is not grounded in experience—our arguably best understood source of justification—in what can it then be grounded? The chapters in this part explore in related ways the possibility that a priori justification is grounded either in intuitions or in understanding. The third part concerns the extent of a priori justification: beyond core cases like mathematical proof, what methods can yield a priori justification? The chapters in this part variously investigate to what degree and why methods like introspection, testimony, and others have import for a priori justification. Overall, the book aims at showcasing as well as pushing further some of the latest contemporary trends in thinking about these questions.

Keywords: интроспекция, introspection, a priori justification, априорное обоснование