Rethinking knowledge : the heuristic view / Carlo Cellucci.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cellucci, Carlo, author.

Series:

European studies in philosophy of science ; v. 4.

European studies in philosophy of science

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Philosophy.

Logic.

Philosophy and science.

Physical Description:

xix, 427 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2017]

Summary:

This monograph addresses the question of the increasing irrelevance of philosophy, which has seen scientists as well as philosophers concluding that philosophy is dead and has dissolved into the sciences. It seeks to answer the question of whether or not philosophy can still be fruitful and what kind of philosophy can be such. The author argues that from its very beginning philosophy has focused on knowledge and methods for acquiring knowledge. This view, however, has generally been abandoned in the last century with the belief that, unlike the sciences, philosophy makes no observations or experiments and requires only thought. Thus, in order for philosophy to once again be relevant, it needs to return to its roots and focus on knowledge as well as methods for acquiring knowledge. Accordingly, this book deals with several questions about knowledge that are essential to this view of philosophy, including mathematical knowledge. Coverage examines such issues as the nature of knowledge; plausibility and common sense; knowledge as problem solving; modeling scientific knowledge; mathematical objects, definitions, diagrams; mathematics and reality; and more. This monograph presents a new approach to philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers with interests in the role of knowledge, the analytic method, models of science, and mathematics and reality.

Contents:

Introduction

Part I. The nature of philosophy

The heuristic view

The foundationalist view

The limits of scepticism

Philosophy and the humanistic disciplines

Part II. The nature of knowledge

Knowledge and naturalism

Knowledge and reality

Knowledge and truth

Knowledge, plausibility, and common sense

Other questions about knowledge

Part III. The methods to acquire knowledge

A discourse on method

The methods of knowledge

Modelling scientific knowledge

Knowledge as problem solving

Perceptual knowledge

Knowledge and error

Knowledge and mind

Part IV. The nature of mathematical knowledge

Mathematics as problem solving

Mathematical objects, definitions, diagrams

Mathematics: problem solving or theorem proving?

Concepts of demonstration

Mathematical explanations

Mathematical beauty

Mathematics and the world

Part V. Coda

Knowledge and the meaning of human life

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-417) and index.

ISBN:

3319532367

9783319532363

OCLC:

967583520