This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the nature of epistemic dilemmas and question whether they really exist and argues that requirements of logical omniscience and the requirement to proportion beliefs to evidence seem to produce dilemmas. It also explores epistemic conflicts with a particular eye towards situations where one’s cognition works well locally but falls short globally. The book looks at the literature on moral dilemmas to help identify conditions for epistemic dilemmas and draws the modest conclusion that genuine epistemic dilemmas are very hard to find. It examines the two prime candidates for epistemic dilemmas and also argues that they’re not genuinely dilemmatic. The book suggest that appreciation of the nature and role of higher-order evidence shows that epistemic dilemmas should be expected and are perhaps not such a bad thing on the whole.
