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Reader Alfred MacDonald called my attention to this old blog post and wondered whether I might solicit something similar here for various subfields of philosophy. So let's start with recommendations for introductions to metaphysics and/or epistemology. Don't just name a text, but say something about why you think it's particularly notable or valuable.
There are so many. And so many good ones. In epistemology, e.g:
Jenifer Nagel’s ‘Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction’ (OUP, 2014)— neat, wide-ranging and illustrated well.
Allan Hazlett’s ‘Skepticism: A Critical Introduction’ (Bloomsbury, 2014)—very clear and thorough. The rest in this series look very good too.
In metaphysics, e.g:
Peter van Inwagen’s ‘Metaphysics’ (2015, Westview)—stylish, wide-ranging, &c.
Kris McDaniel, _This is Metaphysics_ (Wiley-Blackwell, 2020). This book will be out very shortly, and I have read the final draft. Kris deftly covers classification, properties, mereology, modality, time, freedom, and meta-metaphysics. It is engagingly written with the average-ability undergraduate in mind.
For epistemology I really like Richard Feldman's 'Epistemology'. The writing and examples Feldman uses are quite clear so undergrads new to epistemology are able to follow it (at least the undergrads who actually do the readings!). The only drawback is it focuses mostly on traditional epistemology, so you need to supplement it to cover social epistemology. Multiple students have commented in evaluations about how much they enjoy the Feldman text, which is quite rare (at least in my teaching experience).
For Epistemology, the standard-bearer in my view is Jonathan Dancy's Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology. It takes up very sophisticated, advanced material in a highly accessible manner and connects classic treatments of the subject from the Enlightenment with its contemporary treatment. An outstanding book.
Michael Loux's Routledge textbook on Metaphysics is a wonderful introduction to the field.
A second endorsement for Michael Loux's Routledge textbook. I've used it with non-majors and they have found it incredibly easy to follow. He motivates the topics, and does a good job of giving strong arguments for the various positions. I have also used the final chapter on the metaphysics of race (are races biologically real? Social constructs? etc.) from Alyssa Ney's "Metaphysics: An Introductioin", also published by Routledge. I have found that the topic of the metaphysics of race is a great way to use the tools of metaphysics to address question that (at least my) undergraduates are quite interested to discuss.
I've used Alyssa Ney's METAPHYSICS: AN INTRODUCTION for several years. It is superbly well organized and clear — an exemplary introductory text. Previously, I used Loux – but Ney is much more appropriate for my upper-level non-majors.
I think it would be great if Matthias Steup brought out an updated edition of his *An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology* (Prentice-Hall, 1996). That was a fine text — and it's still very useful.
Having recently taught upper-level undergraduate courses in both metaphysics and epistemology I would recommend:
For Metaphysics: Alyssa Ney's Metaphysics is clearly the best book currently on the market with excellent coverage of a range of standard topics, plus a great chapter on the metaphysics of race. (Though I will be v interested to see this McDaniel book mentioned above…)
As a slightly left-field/quirky introductory level book, I would also mention John F Post's shorter book 'Metaphysics' – which covers a somewhat different, non-standard array of topics but is also wonderfully clear and engaging.
For Epistemology the choice is less clear: Michael Williams 'Problems of Knowledge" probably has the best content, though the organisation of chapters is a little unhelpful and the topics are perhaps a little old-fashioned (emphasis on scepticism, little social epistemology). Audi's textbook is better organised but the actual discussions of the standard topics strike me as much less good. One commenter, above, mentioned Dancy's book – this strikes me as extremely out of date now (published 1991 i think) – e.g. the chapter on perception is now quite unsatisfactory given the nearly 30 years that have passed. Duncan Pritchard's very short book (c. 130 pages) 'Epistemology' with Palgrave has too narrow a range of topics for most courses, but it's extremely useful as a supplementary reading since the discussion of Gettier, Safety & Sensitivity and Closure principles is brilliantly clear and all my students found it super-helpful. (Not to be confused with Pritchard's other introductory textbook "What is this thing called Knowledge?' – which is fine but pitched at a very basic level.) Finally I would mention Darren Bradley's introduction to Formal Epistemology which is excellent at showing how probability illuminates various traditional epistemological questions and which many students were enthusiastic about. (Though the book only covers probability – there is no mention of, say, epistemic modal logic, or AGM belief revision.)
For both Epistemology and Metaphysics the Routledge series 'Contemporary Debates in…' would work brilliantly as advanced course textbooks. They feature pairs of essays by many different leading philosophers arguing against each other. (For the epistemology book, edited by Steup, Turri and Sosa, make sure to get the 2nd edition!) But the level is quite advanced so these may not be appropriate for more introductory courses.
Michael Loux for Metaphysics and Goldman/McGrath for Epistemology. Also, I found Lemos' Intro chapter on reliabilism quite good.
For metaphysics, I have benefited immensely from Loux (Routledge) and Carroll & Markosian (Cambridge). As for epistemology, I could recommend Lemos (Cambridge). In general, both Cambridge and Routledge have their own Introduction to Philosophy series that can be read.
For Metaphysics I would second Carroll & Markosian (Cambridge), which is easily supplemented with some articles from the primary literature. It is flexible and clearly written.
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