The possibility of knowledge / Quassim Cassam.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cassam, Quassim.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

x, 234 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon Press ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

How is knowledge of the external world possible? How is knowledge of other minds possible? How is a priori knowledge possible? These are all examples of how-possible questions in epistemology. Quassim Cassam explains how such questions arise and how they should be answered.

In general, we ask how knowledge, or knowledge of some specific kind, is possible when we encounter obstacles to its existence or acquisition. So the question is: how is knowledge possible given the various factors that make it look impossible? A satisfactory answer to such a question will therefore need to do several different things. In essence, explaining how a particular kind of knowledge is possible is a matter of identifying ways of acquiring it, overcoming or dissipating obstacles to its acquisition, and figuring out what makes it possible to acquire it.

To respond to a how-possible question in this way is to go in for what might be called a 'multi-levels' approach. The aim of this book is to develop and defend this approach. The first two chapters bring out its advantages and explain why it works better than more familiar 'transcendental' approaches to explaining how knowledge is possible. The remaining chapters use the multi-levels framework to explain how perceptual knowledge is possible, how it is possible to know of the existence of minds other than one's own, and how a priori knowledge is possible.

Contents:

1 The Possibility of Knowledge 1

1.1 How-Possible Questions 1

1.2 Kant's Problem 10

1.3 Perceptual Knowledge 22

1.4 Anti-Minimalism 36

2 Transcendental Arguments 51

2.1 Regressive Transcendental Arguments 51

2.2 The Problem of Generality 62

2.3 Revelation, Validation, Explanation 67

3 Perceptual Knowledge (I): Space 85

3.1 What Makes it Possible? 85

3.2 Spatial Perception 90

3.3 Perceptual Differentiation (I) 93

3.4 Perceptual Differentiation (II) 107

3.5 The Direct Argument and Primary Qualities 116

3.6 Foundations, A Priority, and Minimalism 123

4 Perceptual Knowledge (II): Concepts 129

4.1 The Role of Concepts 129

4.2 Object Perception 132

4.3 Epistemic Perception 140

4.4 Foundations, A Priority, and Minimalism 152

5 Other Minds 155

5.1 The Perceptual Model 155

5.2 Obstacle-Removal 161

5.3 Enabling Conditions 172

5.4 How Many Levels? 183

6 A Priori Knowledge 188

6.1 The Problem 188

6.2 Reflection, Reasoning, and Calculation 196

6.3 Idealism and Explanation 210

6.4 Rationalism 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-230) and index.

ISBN:

9780199208319

019920831X

OCLC:

76360724