Barry Stroud is Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of Hume (1977), The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism (OUP, 1984), The Quest for Reality (OUP, 2000), Engagement and Metaphysical Dissatisfaction (2011), and three other collections of essays: Understanding Human Knowledge (OUP, 2000), Meaning, Understanding, and Practice (OUP, 2000), and Philosophers Past and Present (2011).