Knowing our limits / Nathan Ballantyne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ballantyne, Nathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

xi, 326 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]

Summary:

Changing our minds isn't easy. Even when we recognize our views are disputed by intelligent and informed people, we rarely doubt our rightness. Why is this so? How can we become more open-minded, putting ourselves in a better position to tolerate conflict, advance collective inquiry, and learn from differing perspectives in a complex world?0Nathan Ballantyne defends the indispensable role of epistemology in tackling these issues. For early modern philosophers, the point of reflecting on inquiry was to understand how our beliefs are often distorted by prejudice and self-interest, and to improve the foundations of human knowledge. Ballantyne seeks to recover and modernize this classical tradition by vigorously defending an interdisciplinary approach to epistemology, blending philosophical theorizing with insights from the social and cognitive sciences.0Many of us need tools to help us think more circumspectly about our controversial views. Ballantyne develops a method for distinguishing between our reasonable and unreasonable opinions, in light of evidence about bias, information overload, and rival experts. This method guides us to greater intellectual openness-in the spirit of skeptics from Socrates to Montaigne to Bertrand Russell-making us more inclined to admit that sometimes we don't have the right answers. With vibrant prose and fascinating examples from science and history, Ballantyne shows how epistemology can help us know our limits.

Contents:

Epistemology and inquiry

Regulative epistemology in the seventeenth century

How do epistemic principles guide?

How to know our limits

Disagreement and debunking

Counterfactual interlocutors

Unpossessed evidence

Epistemic trespassing

Novices and expert disagreement

Self-defeat?

The end of inquiry.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Ballantyne, Nathan, author. Knowing our limits.

ISBN:

9780190847289

019084728X

OCLC:

1091585687