Understanding understanding / Richard Mason.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mason, Richard, 1948-2006.

Series:

SUNY series in philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Comprehension (Theory of knowledge).

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (141 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How is understanding to be understood? Are there limits to understanding? What of importance, if anything, could lie beyond understanding? And do we need to understand knowledge before we can know about understanding? Richard Mason's argument is that a critical theory of under¬standing, modeled on past theories of knowledge, cannot be workable.Understanding may bring wisdom: an uncomfort¬able thought for many philosophers in the twentieth century. Yet philosophy aims at expanding understanding at least as much as knowledge. How we understand understanding affects how we understand philosophy. If we put aside a narrow view of under¬standing based upon a Cartesian model of knowledge, we may gain a more liberal, open understanding of philosophy.Mason's treatment of these fascinating problems offers a clear and lucid dialogue with a number of contemporary philosophical schools and with philosophy's past. His discussions include the thought of Hume, Henry James, Heidegger, Frege, Charles Taylor, Michael Oakeshott, Wittgenstein, Gadamer, James Joyce, and the Guyaki Indians. This fascinating book contributes to the work of many of these traditions as well as to the nature of understanding in areas as diverse as physics, music, and linguistics.

Contents:

Intro

Understanding Understanding

Contents

Introduction

1. What we Understand

2. How we Understand

3. Understanding and Knowledge

4. Intelligibility

5. Failures of Understanding

6. Beyond Understanding

7. Wisdom

Notes

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Bibliography

Index of Names

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Z.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-130) and index.

ISBN:

9780791486122

0791486125

9781417537747

1417537744

OCLC:

61367808