In Being Rational and Being Right, Juan Comesana argues for a cluster of theses related to the rationality of action and belief. His starting point is that rational action requires rational belief but tolerates false belief. From there, Comesana provides a novel account of empirical evidence according to which said evidence consists of the content of undefeated experiences. This view, which Comesana calls Experientialism, differs from the two main views of empirical evidence on offer nowadays: Factualism, according to which our evidence is what we know, and Psychologism, according to which our experiences themselves are evidence. He reasons that Experientialism fares better than these rival views in explaining different features of rational belief and action. Comesana embeds this discussion in a Bayesian framework, and discusses in addition the problem of normative requirements, the easy knowledge problem, and how Experientialism compares to forms of evidentialism and reliabilism.

About the Author
Juan Comesana is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin and at the University of Arizona and is the co-author of Skepticism: The Basics (Routledge, 2022). He works mainly in epistemology, though he is also interested in metaphysics and metaethics.

Reviews
Being Rational and Being Right is a fantastic book, very well argued, and extremely rich * Mona Simion, Mind *
Comesana's defense of Experientialism is rich and provocative, and worthy of detailed study. * John Hawthorne, Philosophical Studies *
Being Rational and Being Right ... is a tour de force defense of a simple truth that has become altogether too mysterious to philosophers, and it defends it without falling into any of the central traps into which its opponents so commonly associate this truth's defenders * Mark Schroeder, Philosophical Studies *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198878711
Author Juan Comesana
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 354g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 153mm * 13mm