Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge Books

Book SynopsisThe first English-language collection to establish curiosity studies as a unique field From science and technology to business and education, curiosity is often taken for granted as an unquestioned good. And yet, few people can define curiosity. Curiosity Studies marshals scholars from more than a dozen fields not only to define curiosity but also to grapple with its ethics as well as its role in technological advancement and global citizenship. While intriguing research on curiosity has occurred in numerous disciplines for decades, no rigorously cross-disciplinary study has existed—until now. Curiosity Studies stages an interdisciplinary conversation about what curiosity is and what resources it holds for human and ecological flourishing. These engaging essays are integrated into four clusters: scientific inquiry, educational practice, social relations, and transformative power. By exploring curiosity through the practice of scientific inquiry, the contours of human learning, the stakes of social difference, and the potential of radical imagination, these clusters focus and reinvigorate the study of this universal but slippery phenomenon: the desire to know. Against the assumption that curiosity is neutral, this volume insists that curiosity has a history and a political import and requires precision to define and operationalize. As various fields deepen its analysis, a new ecosystem for knowledge production can flourish, driven by real-world problems and a commitment to solve them in collaboration. By paying particular attention to pedagogy throughout, Curiosity Studies equips us to live critically and creatively in what might be called our new Age of Curiosity.Contributors: Danielle S. Bassett, U of Pennsylvania; Barbara M. Benedict, Trinity College; Susan Engel, Williams College; Ellen K. Feder, American U; Kristina T. Johnson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Narendra Keval; Christina León, Princeton U; Tyson Lewis, U of North Texas; Amy Marvin, U of Oregon; Hilary M. Schor, U of Southern California; Seeta Sistla, Hampshire College; Heather Anne Swanson, Aarhus U.Table of ContentsContentsForewordPamela Grossman and John L. Jackson Jr.Introduction: What Is Curiosity Studies?Perry Zurn and Arjun Shankar Part I. Interrogating the Scientific Enterprise1. Exploring the Costs of Curiosity: An Environmental Scientist’s DilemmaSeeta Sistla2. Curious Ecologies of Knowledge: More-than-Human AnthropologyHeather Anne Swanson3. Curiosity, Ethics, and the Medical Management of Intersex AnatomiesEllen K. FederPart II. Relearning How We Learn4. A Network Science of the Practice of CuriosityDanielle S. Bassett5. Why Should This Be So? The Waxing and Waning of Children’s CuriositySusan Engel6. The Dude Abides, or, Why Curiosity Is Important for Education TodayTyson Lewis7. “The Campus is Sick”: Capitalist Curiosity and Student Mental HealthArjun ShankarPart III. Reimagining How We Relate8. Autism, Neurodiversity, and CuriosityKristina T. Johnson9. Obstacles to Curiosity and Concern: Exploring the Racist ImaginationNarendra Keval10. Curious Entanglements: Opacity and Ethical Relation in Latina/o AestheticsChristina León11. Transsexuality, the Curio, and the Transgender Tipping PointAmy MarvinPart IV. Deconstructing the Status Quo12. Peeping and Transgression: Curiosity and Collecting in English LiteratureBarbara M. Benedict13. Curiosity and Political ResistancePerry Zurn14. Curiosity at the End of the World: Women, Fiction, ElectricityHilary M. SchorConclusion: On Teaching CuriosityArjun Shankar and Perry Zurn AfterwordHelga NowotnyAcknowledgmentsContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisA Guide for the Perplexed is E. F. Schumacher''s classic work of philosophy and a statement of the philosophies that underpin his economic masterpiece Small is Beautiful. Schumacher asserts that it is the task of philosophy to provide a map of life and knowledge, which exhibits the most important features of life in their proper prominence.Trade ReviewA condensation of a vast and refreshingly unorthodox system of ideas -- Arthur Koestler * Observer *Schumacher's arguments are invigorating, provoking, and often dramatic * New Statesman *The most exciting philosophical book for ages * Daily Mail *There is a rich store of wisdom and understanding, embedded in the religions of East and West, which our dangerous preoccupation with science has scanted and ignored... This book is about the different ways in which people may see and the blindness of only seeing in one particular way. * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisIn his essay, Locke rejects all appeals to authority and the theory of innate knowledge, arguing that knowledge derives from sense, perceptions and experience, as analysed and developed by reason.Table of ContentsIntroductionFurther ReadingBibliographical AbbreviationsA Note on the TextTitle-page of the Fifth EditionAN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDINGThe Epistle DedicatoryThe Epistle to the ReaderThe ContentsBook I: Of Innate NotionsI IntroductionII No Innate Principles in the MindIII No Innate Practical PrinciplesIV Other Considerations concerning Innate Principles, both Speculative and PracticalBook II: Of Innate NotionsI Of Ideas in General, and their OriginalII Of Simple IdeasIII Of Ideas of One SenseIV Of SolidityV Of Simple Ideas of Divers SensesVI Of Simple Ideas of ReflectionVII Of Simple Ideas of both Sensation and ReflectionVIII Some further Considerations concerning our Simple IdeasIX Of PerceptionX Of RetentionXI Of Discerning, and other Operations of the MindXII Of Complex IdeasXIII Of Simple Modes; and first, of the Simple Modes of SpaceXIV Of Duration, and its Simple ModesXV Of Duration and Expansion, considered togetherXVI Of NumberXVII Of InfinityXVIII Of other Simple ModesXIX Of the Modes of ThinkingXX Of Modes of Pleasure and PainXXI Of PowerXXII Of Mixed ModesXXIII Of our Complex Ideas of SubstancesXXIV Of Collective Ideas of SubstancesXXV Of RelationXXVI Of Cause and Effect, and other RelationsXXVII Of Identity and DiversityXXVIII Of other RelationsXXIX Of Clear and Obscure, Distinct and Confused IdeasXXX Of Real and Fantastical IdeasXXXI Of Adequate and Inadequate IdeasXXXII Of True and False IdeasXXXIII Of the Association of IdeasBook III: Of WordsI Of Words or Language in GeneralII Of the Signification of WordsIII Of General TermsIV Of the Names of Simple IdeasV Of the Names of Mixed Modes and RelationsVI Of the Names of SubstancesVII Of ParticlesVIII Of Abstract and Concrete TermsIX Of the Imperfection of WordsX Of the Abuse of WordsXI Of the Remedies of the Foregoing Imperfections and AbusesBook IV: Of Knowledge and OpinionI Of Knowledge in GeneralII Of the Degrees of Our KnowledgeIII Of the Extent of Human KnowledgeIV Of the Reality of KnowledgeV Of Truth in GeneralVI Of Universal Propositions, their Truth and CertaintyVII Of MaximsVIII Of Trifling PropositionsIX Of our Knowledge of ExistenceX Of our Knowledge of the Existence of a GodXI Of our Knowledge of the Existence of ThingsXII Of the Improvement of our KnowledgeXIII Some further Considerations concerning our KnowledgeXIV Of JudgmentXv Of ProbabilityXVI Of the Degrees of AssentXVII Of ReasonXVIII Of Faith and Reason, and their Distinct ProvincesXIX Of EnthusiasmXX Of Wrong Assent, or ErrorXXI Of the Division of the SciencesAppendix: John Locke's Debate with Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester, as it figures in footnotes in the Fifth Edition of the EssayIndex to the Fifth EditionNotes

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Book SynopsisRené Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve certainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy and physiology, Descartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, and this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle. Many of Descartes'' most radical ideas - such as the disparity between our perceptions and the realities that cause them - have been highly influential in the development of modern philosophy.

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Book SynopsisThis important book is about truth, and the enemies of truth, and the wars that are fought between them. As Simon Blackburn says in his introduction, the ground is complicated, strewn with abandoned fortresses and trenches, fought over by shifting alliances. Truth is an essential sure-footed guide through the territory, from classical to modern times. It looks at relativism and absolutism, toleration and belief, objectivity and knowledge, science and pseudo-science, and the moral and political implications, as well as the nuances, of all these.

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Book SynopsisJohn Gray is most recently the acclaimed author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia, Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, Al Qaeda and What It Means to be Modern, Heresies: Against Progress and Other Illusions and False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism. Having been Professor of Politics at Oxford, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale and Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, he now writes full time. His books and articles have been translated into over thirty languages. His selected writings, Gray's Anatomy, were published by Penguin in 2009.Trade ReviewThe most prescient of British public intellectuals * Financial Times *Gray has consistently anticipated the shape of things to come ... he teaches us that true humanism is to be found in uncertainty and doubt -- Will SelfThe closest thing we have to a window-smashing French intellectual -- Andrew MarrA visionary ... one of the most reliably provocative and heterodox voices in British intellectual life today * New Statesman *Gray is a philosophical maverick, a pricker of bubbles, a deflater of balloons, a true iconoclast for whom our chief competing accounts of existence - the religious and the humanist - are both fatally flawed * Globe and Mail *Deeply thoughtful, brilliantly narrated -- Raymond Tallis * Literary Review *A romp of a read ... John Gray is a connoisseur of human idiocy -- John Banville * Guardian *Our sharpest critic of utopian fantasies skewers the crazed but enduring dream of cheating age, time and death -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *John Gray, the counter-prophet who scorns all claims that humans can transcend the human condition ... You don't have to agree with Gray to enjoy the fireworks -- Marek Kohn * Independent *Elegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress * Sunday Telegraph *Gray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisThis is a collection of very recent essays by the leading proponent of process reliabilism, explaining its relation to rival and/or neighboring theories including evidentialism, other forms of reliabilism, and virtue epistemology. It addresses other prominent themes in contemporary epistemology, such as the internalism/externalism debate, the epistemological upshots of experimental challenges to intuitional methodology, the source of epistemic value, and social epistemology. The Introduction addresses late-breaking responses to ongoing exchanges with friends, rivals, and critics of reliabilism.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. What Is Justified Belief? ; 2. Immediate Justification and Process Reliabilism ; 3. Reliabilism ; 4. Internalism, Externalism, and the Architecture of Justification ; 5. Toward a Synthesis of Reliabilism and Evidentialism ; 6. Reliabilism and Value of Knowledge (with Erik Olsson) ; 7. Williamson on Knowledge and Evidence ; 8. Epistemic Relativism and Reasonable Disagreement ; 9. A Guide to Social Epistemology ; 10. Why Social Epistemology is Real Epistemology ; 11. Philosophical Naturalism and Intuitional Methodology

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Book SynopsisPerception and Idealism examines how perception makes objects manifest to us, and what the world must be like for objects to be manifest in that way. Howard Robinson argues for a version of sense-datum theory about perception and theistic phenomenalism about metaphysical reality.Trade ReviewRobinson's book is clearly and beautifully written, and argumentatively persuasive ... a refreshing blast of curative air breathed into the dank enclosures of Direct Realism, Disjunctivism and Reductive Representationalism. * David Pitt, California State University, Los Angeles *Robinson argues for a kind of idealism, providing well-organized, well-documented discussions of both early modern and recent philosophers' views on the nature of perception and its relationship to the world. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: How the World Manifests Itself to Us 1: The Causal Argument for Sense-Data, 'Philosophers' Hallucinations', and the Disjunctive Response 2: Naïve Realism and the Argument from Illusion 3: Intentionality and Perception (I): The Fundamental irrelevance of Intentionality to Phenomenal Consciousness 4: Intentionality and Perception (II): Attempts to Articulate the 'Content' and 'Object' Distinction 5: Singular Reference and its Relation to Intentionality 6: Objectivity: How is It Possible? 7: Semantic Direct Realism, Critical Realism, and the Sense-Datum Theory 8: Building the Manifest World Part II: What the World Is, in Itself 9: The Problematic Nature of the Modern Conception of Matter 10: Two Suggestive Berkeleyan Arguments 11: Bishop Berkeley and John Foster on Problems with Physical Realism about Space 12: Mentalist Alternatives to Berkeleyan Theism, and their Failure General Conclusion

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Book SynopsisPerception is our key to the world. It plays at least three different roles in our lives. It justifies beliefs and provides us with knowledge of our environment. It brings about conscious mental states. It converts informational input, such as light and sound waves, into representations of invariant features in our environment. Corresponding to these three roles, there are at least three fundamental questions that have motivated the study of perception. How does perception justify beliefs and yield knowledge of our environment? How does perception bring about conscious mental states? How does a perceptual system accomplish the feat of converting varying informational input into mental representations of invariant features in our environment? This book presents a unified account of the phenomenological and epistemological role of perception that is informed by empirical research. It develops an account of perception that provides an answer to the first two questions, while being sensitive to scientific accounts that address the third question. The key idea is that perception is constituted by employing perceptual capacities, for example, the capacity to discriminate instances of red from instances of blue. Perceptual content, consciousness, and evidence are each analyzed in terms of this basic property of perception. Employing perceptual capacities constitutes phenomenal character as well as perceptual content. The primacy of employing perceptual capacities in perception over their derivative employment in hallucination and illusion grounds the epistemic force of perceptual experience. In this way, this book provides a unified account of perceptual content, consciousness, and evidence.Trade ReviewThe Unity of Perception offers a grand synoptic vision of how perception, consciousness and knowledge fit together. It is a remarkable achievement. . . . there is every reason for philosophers with an interest in mind or epistemology to read The Unity of Perception. * Alex Byrne, Analysis *The Unity of Perception is an ambitious and wide-ranging book - one that presents a unified account and then uses it to address Big Questions about perception. . . . Schellenberg's proposals are important, and will play a role in future discussion of these matters. * Jonathan Cohen, Analysis *Rich and rewarding. * Matthew McGrath, Analysis *The Unity of Perception is an interesting and thought-provoking book. The central view - capacitism - and its broad implications for philosophy of perception, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science make this book a valuable contribution to anyone working on perception, and I have no doubt that it will draw a great deal of well-deserved attention. * Arnon Cahen, Perception *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Foundations 1: Perceptual Particularity 2: Perceptual Capacities Part II: Content 3: Content Particularism 4: Fregean Particularism 5: In Defense of Perceptual Content Part III: Consciousness 6: Perceptual Consciousness as a Mental Activity Part IV: Evidence 7: Perceptual Evidence 8: Justification, Luminosity, and Credences 9: Perceptual Knowledge and Gettier Cases 10: Capacitism and Alternative Views

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Book SynopsisDeveloping original accounts of the many aspects of belief, On Believing puts the believer at the heart of the story. Developing a novel account of the normativity of belief, Hunter argues that the ethics of belief concern how a believer ought to be positioned in a world of possibilities.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: On the Nature of Believing 2: The Ontology of Believing 3: The Objects of Believing 4: Believing without Representing 5: Objectivity and Credal Illusions 6: Subjectivity and Credal Necessities 7: Credal Agency 8: Credal Norms

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Book SynopsisAesthetic judgements that are formed on the basis of testimony are commonly held to be defective, illegitimate, or otherwise problematic. This book assesses the debate surrounding aesthetic testimony and argues for the surprising conclusion that this widespread view is mistaken. Aesthetic testimony is in no way inferior as a source of judgement when compared to either first-hand aesthetic judgement or testimony concerning non-aesthetic matters. Alongside establishing this position (an extreme form of ''optimism'' concerning aesthetic testimony), Jon Robson also responds to the most prominent arguments for the opposing view (''pessimism'' concerning aesthetic testimony). Along the way, it also re-examines our understanding of the norms which govern both judgement and assertion in aesthetics.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Optimism and Pessimism 2: Constitutive Pessimism 3: The Presumption of Optimism 4: Pessimism and the Appeal to Cases 5: Optimism and the Appeal to Cases 6: Pessimism, Assertion, and Signalling 7: The Debate Concerning Assertion

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Book SynopsisGonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra presents two arguments for the principle that no two objects can differ only numerically. He shows that the principle cannot be reduced to a triviality, and that restricted versions concerning only qualitative propeties face problems.Trade ReviewThe book contains four new arguments about the Identity of Indiscernibles. * MathSciNet *

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Book SynopsisMovements of the Mind is about what it is to be an agent. Focusing on mental agency, it integrates multiple approaches, from philosophical analysis of the metaphysics of agency to the activity of neurons in the brain. Philosophical and empirical work are combined to generate concrete explanations of key features of the mind. The book should be relevant and accessible to philosophers and scientists interested in mind and agency.Wu argues that actions have a core psychological structure where attention plays a necessary role in guiding the agent''s response and intentions function as memory for work, a practical memory. Attention and memory are accordingly central parts of an agent''s intentionally doing things. These claims are supported by synthesizing philosophical and empirical work to produce a theory of intention and attention in action. The account explains three phenomena of current philosophical interest: (a) the basis of positively and negatively biased action where attention often leads to implicit bias, (b) the dynamics of deductive reasoning as the focusing of a thinker''s cognitive attention and the development of cognitive skills, and (c) the psychology of introspective access to conscious perceptual experience, making clear when introspection can intelligibly fail and when it can succeed.The book provides a theory of agency, whether human or non-human, along with technical notions of automaticity and control, a theory of attention as selection to guide behavior, an account of intention as memory whose dynamics are revealed in empirical investigation of working memory, explications of sustained attention and vigilance, an explanation of biased behavior driven by biases on attention, normative aspects of attention as a skill, the role of learning in cognitive skill, a theory of deduction as a sharpening of attention, and a psychologically plausible model of introspection that speaks to its accuracy and reliability.Trade ReviewThis book puts forward a theory of action. It synthesises Wayne Wu's extensive work on action and attention going back over a decade, and also substantially extends this foundation... The result is excellent. The book is wide-ranging, systematic, very original, and crammed full of interesting ideas. It draws together scientific work with philosophical argumentation in a way that is both rigorous and unusually readable. I have no doubt that it will be important to thinkers interested in action and attention, as well as philosophers of cognitive science more generally. * Henry Taylor, University of Birmingham, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I 1: The Structure of Acting Appendix 1 2: Attention and Attending Part II 3: Intention as Practical Memory 4: Intending as Practical Remembering Part III 5: Automatic Bias, Experts and Amateurs 6: Deducing, Skill and Knowledge 7: Introspecting Perceptual Experience Epilogue Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAlex Byrne sets out and defends a theory of self-knowledge-knowledge of one''s mental states. Inspired by Gareth Evans'' discussion of self-knowledge in his The Varieties of Reference, the basic idea is that one comes to know that one is in a mental state M by an inference from a worldly or environmental premise to the conclusion that one is in M. (Typically the worldly premise will not be about anything mental.) The mind, on this account, is ''transparent'': self-knowledge is achieved by an ''outward glance'' at the corresponding tract of the world, not by an ''inward glance'' at one''s own mind. Belief is the clearest case, with the inference being from ''p'' to ''I believe that p''. One serious problem with this idea is that the inference seems terrible, because ''p'' is at best very weak evidence that one believes that p. Another is that the idea seems not to generalize. For example, what is the worldly premise corresponding to ''I intend to do this'', or ''I feel a pain''? Byrne argues that both problems can be solved, and explains how the account covers perception, sensation, desire, intention, emotion, memory, imagination, and thought. The result is a unified theory of self-knowledge that explains the epistemic security of beliefs about one''s mental states (privileged access), as well as the fact that one has a special first-person way of knowing about one''s mental states (peculiar access).Trade ReviewByrne glides easily through the historical and contemporary literature on self-knowledge, and he culminates in an account of self-knowledge that is "uniformly detectivist, inferential, and economical, and the direction of inference is always from world to mind" (from the preview). The bibliography is impressive. Summing up: Highly recommended * CHOICE *Table of Contents1: Problems of Self-Knowledge 2: Inner Sense 3: Some Recent Approaches 4: The Puzzle of Transparency 5: Belief 6: Perception and Sensation 7: Desire, Intention, and Emotion 8: Memory, Imagination, and Thought

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Book SynopsisThe Importance of Being Rational systematically defends a novel reasons-based account of rationality. The book''s central thesis is that what it is for one to be rational is to correctly respond to the normative reasons one possesses. Errol Lord defends novel views about what it is to possess reasons and what it is to correctly respond to reasons. He shows that these views not only help to support the book''s main thesis, they also help to resolve several important problems that are independent of rationality. The account of possession provides novel contributions to debates about what determines what we ought to do, and the account of correctly responding to reasons provides novel contributions to debates about causal theories of reacting for reasons.After defending views about possession and correctly responding, Lord shows that the account of rationality can solve two difficult problems about rationality. The first is the New Evil Demon problem. The book argues that the account has the resources to show that internal duplicates necessarily have the same rational status. The second problem concerns the deontic significance of rationality. Recently it has been doubted whether we ought to be rational. The ultimate conclusion of the book is that the requirements of rationality are the requirements that we ultimately ought to comply with. If this is right, then rationality is of fundamental importance to our deliberative lives.Trade ReviewErrol Lord's The Importance of Being Rational is a tour de force treatment of the relationship between reasons, rationality, knowledge, and what Lord calls creditworthiness, the kind of achievement where you don't just do what is right, but do it for the right reasons. * Mark Schroeder, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *a beautiful presentation of how one might defend a reasons-first approach to rationality. And it has many insights that will be useful to non-reasons-firsters as well. As such, there's a great deal in the details of Lord's arguments that repays careful consideration. * Karl Schafer, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *The Importance of Being Rational marks a new moment in debates about the nature of rationality. It is absolutely compulsory reading for epistemologists, ethicists, and meta-ethicists alike. * Nathan Robert Howard, Ethics *rich, ambitious, and thought-provoking * Olle Risberg, European Journal of Philosophy *an essential reading in the literature on reasons. * Julia Staffel, The Philosophical Review *an admirable philosophical feat that rewards careful study. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the nature, and worth, of rationality. * Carlos Núñez, The Philosophical Quarterly *an informed, original, rich, sophisticated and exceptionally well-illustrated case for the claim that what we are rationally required to do and what we substantially ought to do is really the same thing. To follow Errol Lord on his route to this conclusion is a frequently rewarding experience and one that is well worth undertaking. * Hallvard Lillehammer, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsPart I: Initial Motivations 1: Introduction 2: The Coherent and the Rational Part II: Possessing Reasons 3: Possession: The Epistemic Condition 4: Possession: The Practical Condition Part III: Correctly Responding to Reasons 5: Correctly Responding to Reasons 6: Achievements and Intelligibility Part IV: Two Problems Solved 7: Defeating the Externalist's Demons 8: What you're Rationally Required to Do and What you Ought to Do

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Book SynopsisEpistemic agency is a crucial concept in many areas of philosophy and cognitive sciences. But what is it? The Tinkering Mind argues that epistemic agency has two distinct, incompatible definitions - intentional mental action, or a distinct non-voluntary form of evaluative agency, both of which lead to surprising, counterintuitive consequences.

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Book SynopsisThe concept of a reason is now central to many areas of contemporary philosophy. Key theses in ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of action, and the philosophy of the emotions, among others, have come to be framed in terms of reasons. And yet, despite their centrality, theorists seem to take inconsistent things for granted about how reasons work, what kinds of things can be reasons, what reasons favor, and more. Somehow reasons have come to be both indispensable and impenetrable.The Fundamentals of Reasons offers a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of reasons. Focusing on the twin roles of reasons in explanation and deliberation, the book not only emphasizes what has made reasons central across philosophy but it also explores why philosophers have such incompatible pictures about what reasons are and how they work. Working from the inside out, Howard and Schroeder identify contentious assumptions about not only the internal structure of reasons but also t

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Book SynopsisProfessor Plantinga is known for distinguished work in the fields of epistemology and philosophy of religion. In this companion volume to Warrant: The Current Debate, Plantinga develops an original approach to the question of what justifies belief and makes it knowledge. He argues that what is crucial to turning true belief into knowledge is the proper functioning of one''s cognitive faculties, and this clears the way for the proposal that a belief is warranted whenever it is the product of properly functioning cognitive processes. Although this is in some sense a sequel to the companion volume, the arguments in no way presuppose those of the first book and it can therefore stand alone.Trade Review'There is much that is provocative and of great interest in this new book from Plantinga ... readers of the first two volumes will find much food for thought here, and will have their appetites whetted for the third, forthcoming volume of the trilogy.' Evan Fales, University of Iowa, Mind, Vol. 103, No. 411, July 1994'Alvin Plantinga makes important contributions to a tradition of discussion which has dominated recent epistemology. Warrant: the Current Debate provides a critical survey of the most recent controbutions to American epistemology ... Plantinga discerns a pattern in their failure, and this is exploited in the second volume where he develops an original and important contribution of his own. Warrant and Proper Function undertakes to succeed where Roderick Chisholm, John Pollock, Louis BonJour, Alvin Goldman and others have failed ... Plantinga's books will provide a focus for much future research in these areas, as well as providing invaluable reading for students taking courses in epistemology.' Christopher Hookway, University of Birmingham, The Philosophical Quarterly, 1995

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Book SynopsisAfrican Philosophy is a collection of previously unpublished essays that address epistemological and metaphysical concerns that have emerged from the sub-Saharan regions of Africa. The primary focus of the book is on traditional African conceptions of mind, person, personal identity, truth, knowledge, understanding, objectivity, and reality. The collection also discusses traditional African conceptions of causation, destiny, and free will.Trade ReviewThis anthology is one of a kind in the growing literature in African philosophy: it is a breath of fresh air. * African American Review *Table of ContentsContributors 1: Introduction: Seeing through the Conceptual Languages of Others 2: K. Anthony Appiah: Akan and Euro-American Concepts of the Person 3: Kwasi Wiredu: Truth and an African Language 4: Segun Gbadegesin: An Outline of a Theory of Destiny 5: Leke Adeofe: Personal Identity in African Metaphysics 6: D. A. Masolo: The Concept of the Person in Luo Modes of Thought 7: I. A. Menkiti: Physical and Metaphysical Understanding: Nature, Agency, and Causation in African Traditional Thought 8: Albert Mosley: Witchcraft, Science, and the Paranormal in Contemporary African Philosophy 9: Lee M. Brown: Understanding and Ontology in Traditional African Thought Selected Bibliography of Epistemological and Metaphysical Perspectives in African Philosophical Thought Index of Names Index of Subjects

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Book SynopsisRecently, new life has been breathed into the ancient philosophical topic of scepticism. It has been the subject of some of the best and most provocative work in contemporary philosophy by both today''s top epistemologists and also by the world''s leading philosophers working in other areas of the discipline. This book collects the most important contributions to each of the major approaches to scepticism that have dominated the recent discussion. It features essays by Anthony Brueckner, Keith DeRose, Fred Dretske, Graeme Forbes, Christopher Hill, David Lewis, Thomas Nagel, Robert Nozick, Hilary Putnam, Ernest Sosa, Gail Stine, Barry Stroud, Peter Unger, and Ted Warfield,Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: RESPONDING TO SKEPTICISM; PART ONE: THE RESPONSE FROM SEMANTIC EXTERNALISM; PART TWO: RESPONSES FROM EPISTEMIC EXTERNALISM; PART THREE: RELEVANT ALTERNATIVES AND DENYING CLOSURE; PART FOUR: CONTEXTUALIST RESPONSES; PART FIVE: CONCESSIVE RESPONSES

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Scott Soames illuminates the notion of truth and the role it plays in our ordinary thought, as well as in our logical, philosophical, and scientific theories. The main questions investigated include Why do we need a truth predicate at all?, What theoretical tasks does it allow us to accomplish?, and How must we understand the content of any predicate capable of accomplishing these tasks?. The main aim of the book is to integrate and extend the most important insight on truth from a variety of sources.Trade ReviewSoames's introduction to partially defined predicates is exemplary, one that presupposes virtually no background in logic or maths. ... Soames's interpretation of Kripke's 'truth value gaps' in terms of partially defined predicates ... is arguably the best available interpretation on the market; and Soames's discussion of this interpretation, like his other discussions, is a paradigm of clarity. For these reasons alone the book is well worth reading. * Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol.79, no.2 *While there are many introductions to Kripke's theory of truth there are none that rival Soames's presentation ... Soames's presentation of the theory is not only clear, careful, and rigorous, but is likewise, and atypically user-friendly. * Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol.79, no.2 *One ... feature is the sheer clarity of the writing and the care with which arguments are given and discussed. In this way the book serves as an example of how to write philosophy; and this is no snall accomplishment, especially in the face of its frequent absence in contemporary philosophical books. * Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol.79, no.2 *

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Book SynopsisWhile the early Platonic dialogues have often been explored and appreciated for their ethical content, the characteristc features of these dialogues are decidedly epistemological - Socrates'' method of questions and answers, known as elenchos, Socrates'' fascination with definition, Socrates'' profession of ignorance, and Socrates'' thesis that virtue is knowledge. Benson here attempts to uncover the epistemological view that underlies these previously neglected features of Socratic thought.Trade ReviewScholars will welcome this book ... this is a thorough and important account of some central problems in Socratic thought. It is lucidly written, well argued and, precisely because of its lucidity, is likely to prove controversial, in the sense that it will give scholars plenty of meat to get their teeth into. * The Heythrop Journal *Socratic Wisdom has a clear and articulate structure ... is serious and successful ... careful and systematic ... a work to be taken seriously by everyone concerned with Plato. * Mind *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1:: Socrates, The Epistemologist Part I: The Socratic Elenchos Chapter 2:: The Aims of the Elenchos Chapter 3:: The Problem of Elenchos Chapter 4:: The Dissolution of the Problem of the Elenchos Part II: Socratic Definition Chapter 5:: The "What is F-ness?" Question and Socratic Definition Chapter 6:: The Priority of Definitional Knowledge Chapter 7:: The Sufficiency of Definitional Knowledge Part III: Socratic Knowledge Chapter 8:: Socratic Ignorance Chapter 9:: A Socratic Theory of Knowledge Chapter 10:: Knowledge, Virtue, and Other Problems Chapter 11:: Meno, the Slave-Boy, and Plato Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, a leading philosopher and Professor of Law, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals against its many relativistic claims in the fields of language, logic, ethics, and science. He proposes that reason reflects objective principles whose validity is independent of different points of view, and continues to argue that reason is universal because its only prerequisite is the ability to think systematically and with intelligence. Dismissing relativism as theoretical chic and inconsequential intellectual flourish, he predicts its ultimate stultifying effect on public discourse. The Last Word is a vigorous defense of reason and its universal narratives. Resisting what he describes as the eventual demise of intellectual discourse, Nagel''s work sets a new standard in the debate: this book presents the clarity and simplicity of objective reason.Nagel''s construction of a coherent framework beyondTrade ReviewReview from previous edition "Nagel's book is a ringing defense of the rationalist conception of reason, and an uncompromising attack on the subjectivist conception...The case that Nagel presents in these chapters should disturb all those who have been lulled, or bludgeoned, into the flabby relativism that is so rampant in contemporary intellectual culture..Nagel's argument is not only correct, it is also urgent...The Last Word is a book that should be read and pondered in this golden age of relativism." * Colin McGinn, The New Republic *"Thomas Nagel stands out among today's best philosophers in retaining closer links with big puzzles and mysteries that first attract most people to philosophy. He has a livelier sense of their depth and power than is conspicuous elsewhere in the academic study of philosophy, and admirably resists the widespread tendency to dent a thing's existence because it is difficult or perhaps impossible to understand." * The Times Literary Supplement *"...(Nagel's) book, which is concise, spare, and well-argued, will prolong discussion by setting it on a new path...what he has to say is challenging, impressive, and thought-provoking." * International Philosophical Quarterly *"...now comes Professor Nagel's fascinating, even brilliant, book..." * Commonweal *

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Book SynopsisWe say the grass is green or lemons are yellow to state what everyone knows. But are the things we see around us really colored, or do they only look that way because of the effects of light rays on our eyes and brains? Is color somehow unreal or subjective and dependent on our human perceptions and the conditions under which we see things? Distinguished scholar Barry Stroud investigates these and related questions in The Quest for Reality. In this long-awaited book, he examines what a person would have to do and believe in order to reach the conclusion that everyone''s perceptions and beliefs about the color of things are illusions and do not accurately represent the way things are in the world as it is independently of us. Arguing that no such conclusion could be consistently reached, Stroud finds that the conditions of a successful unmasking of color cannot all be fulfilled. The discussion extends beyond color to present a serious challenge to many other philosophical attempts to dTrade ReviewThis strange and absorbing book sets out to undermine the central metaphysical ambition which has dominated philosophy since the 17th century - that of reachinga comprehensive understanding of the world, consistent with modern science, which distinguishes between what exists objectively, independent of our minds, and what is merely subjective - due to the effects of the world on our minds and our responses to it. Barry Stroud writes against the temper of the times. His style is clear, explicit, methodical and relentless. He tries to block every exit. The Quest for Reality displays a profound grasp of the history and logical structure of philosophical problems and theories, and a feeling for the derangement of thought that underlies them. Whatever one thinks of the conclusion, it is illuminating to think through the argument. This is philosophy of an exemplary purity, tenacity, and depth. * Thomas Nagel, The London Review of Books *Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: The Philosophical Project ; Chapter 2. The Philosophical Conception of an Independent Reality ; Chapter 3. The Idea of Physical Reality ; Chapter 4. Unmasking Explanation and the "Unreality" of Colour ; Chapter 5. Perception, Predication, and Belief ; Chapter 6. Perceptions of Colour and the Colour of Things ; Chapter 7. Perception, Judgement, and Error ; Chapter 8. Discomforts and Distortions of Metaphysical Theory ; Chapter 9. Engagement, Invulnerability, and Dissatisfaction ; Chapter 10 Morals ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisHow could ecological thinking animate an epistemology capable of addressing feminist, multicultural, and other post-colonial concerns? Starting from an epistemological approach implicit in Rachel Carson''s scientific practice, Lorraine Code elaborates the creative, restructuring resources of ecology for a theory of knowledge. She critiques the instrumental rationality, abstract individualism, and exploitation of people and places that western epistemologies of mastery have legitimated, to propose a politics of epistemic location, sensitive to the interplay of particularity and diversity, and focused on responsible epistemic practice. Drawing on ecological theory and practice, on naturalized epistemology, and on feminist and post-colonial theories, Code analyzes extended examples from developmental psychology, and from two natural institutions of knowledge production--medicine and law. These institutions lend themselves well to a reconfigured naturalism. They are, in practice, empiricalTrade ReviewProfessor Code provides a rich and sensitive epistemology, an erudite yet eminently readable account of how we know and ought to behave. Her insights, arguments, and examples break new ground in helping us understand the dangers of autonomy, the role of advocacy, and the wisdom of ecological thinking. Anyone in ethics, epistemology, or feminist philosophy must read her book. * Kristin Shrader-Frechette, University of Notre Dame *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Ecological Thinking: Subversions and Transformations 2: Ecological Naturalism 3: Negotiating Empiricism 4: Ecological Subjectivity in the Making: "The Child" as Fact and Artifact 5: Patterns of Autonomy, Acknowledgment, and Advocacy 6: Rational Imagining, Responsible Knowing 7: Public Knowledge, Public Trust: Toward Democratic Epistemic Practices Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIt is widely believed that Hume often wrote carelessly and contradicted himself, and that no unified, sound philosophy emerges from his writings. Don Garrett demonstrates that such criticisms of Hume are without basis. Offering fresh and trenchant solutions to longstanding problems in Hume studies, Garrett''s penetrating analysis also makes clear the continuing relevance of Hume''s philosophy.Trade ReviewA significant contribution to Hume studies. * Jonathan Bennett, Syracuse University *I know of no other writer on Hume who has been this assiduous in finding interpretive difficulties in the text and then taking them head on....Beautifully written. * Robert J. Fogelin, Dartmouth College *Garrett's Cognition and Commitment is a first-rate interpretive study, one that unties a great many interpretive knots. * Ethics *Garrett seeks mainly to show that Hume's position is internally consistent and to build a portrait of Hume as essentially a cognitive psychologist. * The Review of Metaphysics *

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Book SynopsisThis rigorous examination of Kant''s Critique of Pure Reason provides a comprehensive analysis of the major metaphysical and epistemological questions of Kant''s most famous work. Author James Van Cleve presents clear and detailed discussions of Kant''s positions and arguments on these themes, as well as critical assessments of Kant''s reasoning and conclusions. Expansive in its scope, Van Cleves study covers the overall structure of Kant''s idealism, the existence and nature of synthetic a priori knowledge, the epistemology of geometry, and the ontological status of space, time, and matter. Other topics explored are the role of synthesis and the categories in making experience and objects of experience possible, the concepts of substance and causation, issues surrounding Kant''s notion of the thing in itself, the nature of the thinking self, and the arguments of rational theology. A concluding chapter discusses the affinities between Kant''s idealism and contemporary antirealism, in Trade Review"This book will be enjoyed not only by those philosophers interested in Kant, but by those interested in metaphysics and epistemology more generally. He writes with directness and accessibility and care; there can be few recent books on the problems of Kant's First Critique that treat so great a range of arguments with such seriousness and sophistication. Van Cleve is a sympathetic interpreter, often finding himself on Kant's side. Clarity and rigor are among the book's notable virtues. There is an impressive knowledge of the contemporary English language. In their precision, originality and brevity, these are gems of analysis, which prove as useful for introducing students to these topics as for shedding light on Kant. This is a splendid book."--The Philosophical Review

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Book SynopsisIn this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student. Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to think about its questions directly, Thomas Nagel considers possible solutions to nine problems--knowledge of the world beyond our minds, knowledge of other minds, the mind-body problem, free will, the basis of morality, right and wrong, the nature of death, the meaning of life, and the meaning of words. Although he states his own opinions clearly, Nagel leaves these fundamental questions open, allowing students to entertain other solutions and encouraging them to think for themselves.

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Book SynopsisWhat if anything justifies us in believing the testimony of others? How should we react to disagreement between ourselves and our peers, and to disagreement among the experts when we ourselves are novices? Can beliefs be held by groups of people in addition to the people composing those groups? And if so, how should groups go about forming their beliefs? How should we design social systems, such as legal juries and scientific research-sharing schemes, to promote knowledge among the people who engage in them? When different groups of people judge different beliefs to be justified, how can we tell which groups are correct? These questions are at the heart of the vital discipline of social epistemology. The classic articles in this volume address these questions in ways that are both cutting-edge and easy to understand. This volume will be of great interest to scholars and students in epistemology.Trade ReviewThis is a collection of essays that offers comprehensive and detailed information on the basic problems and the concepts of social epistemology. A source of valuable knowledge and will not disappoint those who will study it carefully. * Metapsychology *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; BY DENNIS WHITCOMB; I. CONCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL EPISTEMOLOGY; II. TRUST IN TESTIMONY AND EXPERTS; III. REASONABLE PEER DISAGREEMENT; IV. JUDGMENT AGGREGATION; V. SYSTEMS DESIGN

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Book SynopsisCombining up-to-date scholarship with clear and accessible language and helpful exercises, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction is an invaluable resource for all readers interested in metaphor. This second edition includes two new chapters-on ''metaphors in discourse'' and ''metaphor and emotion''-along with new exercises, responses to criticism and recent developments in the field, and revised student exercises, tables, and figures.Trade ReviewAn excellent introduction to conceptual metaphor, one which undergraduate students, graduate students, and general readers will find accessible yet thought-provoking. This edition has been significantly updated and improved, while retaining the features that have made it a well-loved book for students, such as clear expression, interesting exercises with a useful key, concise chapter summaries, and a very handy index of metaphors and metonymies. * Linguist List *Table of ContentsGLOSSARY; SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES; REFERENCES; GENERAL INDEX; METAPHOR AND METONYMY INDEX

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Book SynopsisHuman beings are active agents who can think. To understand how thought serves action requires understanding how people conceive of the relation between cause and effect, between action and outcome. In cognitive terms, how do people construct and reason with the causal models we use to represent our world? A revolution is occurring in how statisticians, philosophers, and computer scientists answer this question. Those fields have ushered in new insights about causal models by thinking about how to represent causal structure mathematically, in a framework that uses graphs and probability theory to develop what are called causal Bayesian networks. The framework starts with the idea that the purpose of causal structure is to understand and predict the effects of intervention. How does intervening on one thing affect other things? This is not a question merely about probability (or logic), but about action. The framework offers a new understanding of mind: Thought is about the effects of iTable of Contents1. Agency and the Role of Causation in Mental Life ; Part I. The Theory ; 2. The Information Is in the Invariants ; 3. What Is a Cause? ; 4. Causal Models ; 5. Observation Versus Action ; Part II. Evidence and Application ; 6. Reasoning About Causation ; 7. Decision Making via Causal Consequences ; 8. The Psychology of Judgment: Causality Is Pervasive ; 9. Causality and Conceptual Structure ; 10. Categorical Induction ; 11. Locating Causal Structure in Language ; 12. Causal Learning ; 13. Conclusion: Causation in the Mind ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn a deep and subtle examination of our condition, John Kekes shows how it is possible to live wisely, even when confronted with competing visions of what a good life might consist in. For Kekes, rather than assuming that there is one unitary Good over-riding all others, wisdom involves recognising our contingency while cultivating our moral imagination. This we can do by drawing on the historical and cultural traditions we inherit, as Kekes shows by a sensitive use of literature and philosophy. Kekes's achievement in his book is to intimate how each one of us, while sensitive to the demands of our own contingency and history, may transform the commonplace of our own lives, thus moving towards a form of wisdom worth striving for. * Anthony O'Hear, University of Buckingham *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Human Wisdom: Initial Conception Chapter 2: Approaches to Wisdom Chapter 3: Two Assumptions Chapter 4: Perennial Problems Chapter 5: Wisdom: The Emerging Conception Chapter 6: Basic Assumptions Chapter 7: Reflective Understanding Chapter 8: Depth Chapter 9: Wisdom: The Concluding Conception Last Words

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Book SynopsisFrom AI to climate change, recent technological, ecological, and cultural transformations have unsettled established assumptions about the relationship between the human and the more-than-human world. Screening the Posthuman addresses a heterogenous body of twenty-first century films that turn to the figure of the posthuman as a means of exploring this development. Through close analyses of films as diverse as Kûki ningyô [Air Doll] (dir. Hirokazu Koreeda 2009), Testrol és lélekrol [On Body and Soul] (dir. Ildiko Enyedi 2017) and Nomadland (dir. Chloé Zhao 2020), this wide-ranging volume shows that, while often identified as the remit of science fiction, the posthuman on screen crosses filmic genres, national contexts, and industrial settings. In the process, posthuman cinema emphasizes humanity''s entanglement in broader biological, technological, and social worlds and exposes new models of subjectivity, community, and desire. In advancing these arguments, Screening the Posthuman drTrade ReviewIn summary, Pansy Duncan, Claire Henry, and Missy Molloy have fashioned an impressive critical exercise on posthuman theory that will surely serve as a crucial text and foundational source of scholarship in the emerging, evolving discourse in our collective engagement with the posthuman, in an ever decentralized contemporary understanding of what it means to be human. * M. Sellers Johson, Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism *Table of ContentsIntroduction Pansy Duncan, Claire Henry and Missy Molloy 1. Posthuman as Genre Pansy Duncan, Claire Henry and Missy Molloy 2. Envisioning Posthuman Apocalypse Missy Molloy 3. From Cyborg Theory to Posthuman Mothers Missy Molloy 4. Queer Posthumanism Claire Henry 5. The Cinematic Convergence of Posthuman and Crip Perspectives Pansy Duncan and Missy Molloy 6. Post-anthropocentrism: Rejecting Human Exceptionalism Claire Henry 7. The Eco-material Posthuman in the Age of the Anthropocene Pansy Duncan Conclusion Pansy Duncan, Claire Henry and Missy Molloy Bibliography Index

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