Considered judgment / Catherine Z. Elgin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elgin, Catherine Z., 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (238 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1996.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Philosophy long sought to set knowledge on a firm foundation, through derivation of indubitable truths by infallible rules. For want of such truths and rules, the enterprise foundered. Nevertheless, foundationalism's heirs continue their forbears' quest, seeking security against epistemic misfortune, while their detractors typically espouse unbridled coherentism or facile relativism. Maintaining that neither stance is tenable, Catherine Elgin devises a via media between the absolute and the arbitrary, reconceiving the nature, goals, and methods of epistemology. In Considered Judgment, she argues for a reconception that takes reflective equilibrium as the standard of rational acceptability. A system of thought is in reflective equilibrium when its components are reasonable in light of one another, and the account they comprise is reasonable in light of our antecedent convictions about the subject it concerns. Many epistemologists now concede that certainty is a chimerical goal. But they continue to accept the traditional conception of epistemology's problematic. Elgin suggests that in abandoning the quest for certainty we gain opportunities for a broader epistemological purview--one that comprehends the arts and does justice to the sciences. She contends that metaphor, fiction, emotion, and exemplification often advance understanding in science as well as in art. The range of epistemology is broader and more variegated than is usually recognized. Tenable systems of thought are neither absolute nor arbitrary. Although they afford no guarantees, they are good in the way of belief.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. Epistemology's End

CHAPTER II. The Failure of Foundationalism

CHAPTER III. Knowledge by Consensus

CHAPTER IV. The Merits of Equilibrium

CHAPTER V. The Heart Has Its Reasons

CHAPTER VI. Shifting Focus

CHAPTER VII. Epistemic Interdependence

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612753251

9781400801886

1400801885

9781400822294

1400822297

9781282753259

1282753258

9781400811465

1400811465

OCLC:

700688526