Knowledge and Belief An Introduction to the Logic of the Two Notions by Jaakko Hintikka Prepared by Vincent F. Hendricks & John Symons In 1962 Jaakko Hintikka published Knowledge and Belief: An Introduction to the Logic of the Two Notions with Cornell University Press. Almost every paper or a book on epistemic and doxastic logic that has appeared since then has referred to this seminal work. Although many philosophers working in logic, epistemology, game-theory, economics, computer science and linguistics mention the book, it is very likely that most have never literally had their hands on it, much less owned a copy. After a fourth printing in 1969, Knowledge and Belief went out of print and as many of us have found to our dismay, it has become increasingly difficult to find used copies at our local shops or online. It is our pleasure to provide the interdisciplinary community with this reprint edition of Knowledge and Belief. Knowledge and Belief is a classic on which a generation - my generation - of epistemologists cut their teeth. This reissue is welcome. It will provide something for the next generation to chew on. - Fred Dretske, Duke University It is wonderful to see this classic being reissued after so many years out of print. It was extremely influential in its day; its influence continues to this day, through the impact of epistemic logic in fields as diverse distributed computing, artificial intelligence, and game theory. This reissue should make it possible for a new generation of researchers to appreciate Hintikka's groundbreaking work. - Joseph Halpern, Cornell University
It is not an exaggeration to say that the publication of Jaakko Hintikka's Knowledge and Belief in 1962 launched a new branch of philosophical logic, epistemic logic. In this seminal work Hintikka developed a theory of epistemic-doxastic modalities and applied it to the characterization of the concepts of knowledge, belief, certainty, and related notions. It has generated an extensive literature and engendered both foundational discussions and formal developments in epistemology, for example, the logic of perception and perceptual knowledge, the epistemology of reference, and a theory of questions and inquiry. This new edition of Knowledge and Belief includes chapters which discuss the recent developments in the field, including Hintikka's "second generation epistemic logic". This book is invaluable to all students of epistemology.
Risto Hilpinen, University of Miami, Coral Gables
Jaakko Hintikka's Knowledge and Belief : An Introduction to the Logic of the Two Notions was described in Hector Neri Castañeda's review as "probably the single most important contribution to philosophical technology since C.I.Lewis's invention of the system of strict implication". The subsequent developments of research inspired by Hintikka's book in logic and in many other disciplines corroborate Castañeda's statement.
Paul Gochet University of Liège
Knowledge and Belief was a landmark in the history of epistemology, having brought, for the first time, the sharp gaze of logic to questions that have occupied humanity for thousands of years. The book contributed to making modal logic a major tool in philosophical logic. It was also amazingly prescient, having preceded by more than a decade the explosion of interest in epistemic logic outside of philosophy, in computer science, economics, and linguistics. The republication of such a classic is to be celebrated.
Moshe Vardi, Rice University
