Metamind, Knowledge and Coherence
Author: Johannes Brandl
Publisher: Rodopi
Published: 1991
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 9789051832778
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPosts
Knowledge - Genetic Foundations and Epistemic Coherence
Author: Birte Schelling
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2013-05-02
Total Pages: 278
ISBN-13: 3110322668
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSince the 1960s there is a controversial discussion about the correct explication of the concept of knowledge in epistemology, but until today no generally accepted solution to the problem of defining this concept has been found. This book contributes to the discussion in epistemology by proposing a new explication of the concept of knowledge which is spelled out in terms of coherence. The main thesis of this book is that a belief can be considered knowledge only if first, it is true and second, it coheres with the rest of the beliefs of the person holding the belief in an appropriate manner. The explication draws on the ideas of Donald Davidson, Laurence BonJour and Keith Lehrer and offers a new perspective on the old project of analyzing the concept of knowledge.
The Tapestry of Reason
Author: Amalia Amaya
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2015-04-30
Total Pages: 601
ISBN-13: 1782255176
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn recent years coherence theories of law and adjudication have been extremely influential in legal scholarship. These theories significantly advance the case for coherentism in law. Nonetheless, there remain a number of problems in the coherence theory in law. This ambitious new work makes the first concerted attempt to develop a coherence-based theory of legal reasoning, and in so doing addresses, or at least mitigates these problems. The book is organized in three parts. The first part provides a critical analysis of the main coherentist approaches to both normative and factual reasoning in law. The second part investigates the coherence theory in a number of fields that are relevant to law: coherence theories of epistemic justification, coherentist approaches to belief revision and theory-choice in science, coherence theories of practical and moral reasoning and coherence-based approaches to discourse interpretation. Taking this interdisciplinary analysis as a starting point, the third part develops a coherence-based model of legal reasoning. While this model builds upon the standard theory of legal reasoning, it also leads to rethinking some of the basic assumptions that characterize this theory, and suggests some lines along which it may be further developed. Thus, ultimately, the book not only improves upon the current state of coherence theory in law, but also contributes to the larger debate about how to articulate a theory of legal reasoning that results in better decision-making.
Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers
Author: John R. Shook
Publisher: A&C Black
Published: 2005-01-01
Total Pages: 2759
ISBN-13: 1843710374
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers includes both academic and non-academic philosophers, anda large number of female and minority thinkers whose work has been neglected. It includes those intellectualsinvolved in the development of psychology, pedagogy, sociology, anthropology, education, theology, politicalscience, and several other fields, before these disciplines came to be considered distinct from philosophy in thelate nineteenth century.Each entry contains a short biography of the writer, an exposition and analysis of his or her doctrines and ideas, abibliography of writings, and suggestions for further reading. While all the major post-Civil War philosophers arepresent, the most valuable feature of this dictionary is its coverage of a huge range of less well-known writers,including hundreds of presently obscure thinkers. In many cases, the Dictionary of Modern AmericanPhilosophers offers the first scholarly treatment of the life and work of certain writers. This book will be anindispensable reference work for scholars working on almost any aspect of modern American thought.
The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America
Author: John R. Shook
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-02-11
Total Pages: 1105
ISBN-13: 1472570561
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor scholars working on almost any aspect of American thought, The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia to Philosophers in America presents an indispensable reference work. Selecting over 700 figures from the Dictionary of Early American Philosophers and the Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, this condensed edition includes key contributors to philosophical thought. From 1600 to the present day, entries cover psychology, pedagogy, sociology, anthropology, education, theology and political science, before these disciplines came to be considered distinct from philosophy. Clear and accessible, each entry contains a short biography of the writer, an exposition and analysis of his or her doctrines and ideas, a bibliography of writings and suggestions for further reading. Featuring a new preface by the editor and a comprehensive introduction, The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia to Philosophers in America includes 30 new entries on twenty-first century thinkers including Martha Nussbaum and Patricia Churchland. With in-depth overviews of Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Noah Porter, Frederick Rauch, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, this is an invaluable one-stop research volume to understanding leading figures in American thought and the development of American intellectual history.
Warrant in Contemporary Epistemology
Author: Alvin Plantinga
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 1996
Total Pages: 406
ISBN-13: 9780847681594
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMotivated by Plantinga's work, fourteen prominent philosophers have written new essays investigating Plantingian warrant and its contribution to contemporary epistemology. The resulting collection, representing a broad array of views, not only gives readers a critical perspective on Plantinga's landmark work, but also provides in one volume a clear statement of the variety of approaches to the nature of warrant within contemporary epistemology and to the connections between epistemology and metaphysics.
Minimal Verificationism
Author: Gordian Haas
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Published: 2015-10-16
Total Pages: 231
ISBN-13: 150150200X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKVerificationism has been a hallmark of logical empiricism. According to this principle, a sentence is insignificant in a certain sense if its truth value cannot be determined. Although logical empiricists strove for decades to develop an adequate principle of verification, they failed to resolve its problems. This led to a general abandonment of the verificationist project in the early 1960s. In the last 50 years, this view has received tremendously bad press. Today it is mostly regarded as an outdated historical concept. Theories that have evolved since the abandonment of verificationism can, however, help overcome some of its key problems. More specifically, an adequate criterion of significance can be derived from a combination of modern theories of justification and belief revision, along with a formal semantics for counterfactuals. In view of these potential improvements, the abandonment of verificationism appears premature. Half a century following its decline, it might be about time to revisit this disreputable view. The author argues in favor of a weak form of verificationism. This approach could be referred to as minimal verificationism, as it involves a weakening of traditional verificationist principles in various respects while maintaining their core idea.
Exemplars of Truth
Author: Keith Lehrer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2019-01-08
Total Pages: 170
ISBN-13: 0190884282
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis monograph is both an intellectual summation as well as a philosophical advancement of key themes of the work of Keith Lehrer on several key topics--including knowledge, self-trust, autonomy, and consciousness. He here attempts to integrate these themes and develop an intellectual system that can constructively solve philosophical problems. The system is indebted to the modern work of Sellars, Quine, and Chisholm, as well as historically to Hume and Reid. At the core of this system lies Lehrer's theory of knowledge, which he previously called a coherence theory of knowledge but now calls a defensibility theory. Lehrer argues that knowledge requires the capacity to justify or defend the target claim of knowledge in terms of a background system. Defensibility is an internal capacity supplied by that system to meet objections to the claim. This theory however leaves open the problem of "experience"--noted by other philosophers--i.e. how to explain the special role of experience in a background system even granted we are fallible in describing it. Lehrer offers a solution to the problem of experience, arguing that reflection on experience converts the experience itself into an exemplar, something like a sample that becomes a vehicle or term of representation. The exemplar represents itself and extends to represent the external world. It exhibits something about evidence and truth concerning experience that, as Wittgenstein noted, cannot be fully described but can only be shown. Exemplar representation is the missing link of a background system to truth about the world.
Scientific and Religious Belief
Author: P. Weingartner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 194
ISBN-13: 9401108048
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book provides new insights into the interrelation between scientific and religious belief. The chapters cover important features of belief in general and discuss distinctive properties between belief, knowledge and acceptance. These properties are considered in relation and comparison to religious belief. Among the contributions are topics such as: the change of scientific belief in relation to the change of our information. Is belief value-free? What are rational reasons (for the justification) of religious hypotheses? What are the important similarities and differences between scientific and religious belief? The different features and aspects are discussed in respect to the great religions of mankind. In addition to the research papers the book contains selections of the discussion which help to clarify interesting details. The book will be of interest to a vast readership among philosophers, theologians and people interested in philosophical questions concerning religion.
Metamind
Author: Keith Lehrer
Publisher:
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 334
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe essays in this book, published here as a collection for the first time, are unified by the thesis that freedom, rationality, social consensus, and knowledge depend on thoughts about thoughts, that is, on metamental operations. These provide for our optionality, plasticity, and most of all for the evaluation and control of lower-level information. The collection argues that the human mind is essentially a metamind.
