Epistemology: its parts and its fundamental difference from Ethics

Abstract

This article aims to address two main topics. First, I would like to show how epistemology is fundamentally different from ethics, and so, to argue that core epistemic attempts pursue objectives that are neutral in substantive normativity. My conclusion is that truth is not per se substantially valuable. Second, I would like distinguish the gnoseological core of epistemology (with its focus on the nature of knowledge and on its scope and limits) from intellectual ethics and its kind of normative assessments. The analysis of credit that may or may be not due to an agent for a successful attempt will be instrumental in our reasoning.