Scientific epistemology : an introduction / Hilary Kornblith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kornblith, Hilary, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy and science.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 168 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Oxford University Press, [2021]

Summary:

The theory of knowledge has traditionally been pursued in ways which fail to draw on the resources of the sciences. This book takes a different approach. It offers a theory of knowledge which is informed by scientific work, and it shows how this approach can illuminate a variety of traditional philosophical questions about the nature and possibility of knowledge. Designed for the non-specialist, this book offers an introduction to the theory of knowledge which draws the reader in to philosophical issues about perception, inference, bias, and argumentation by way of a wide range of interesting examples highlighting the strengths and shortcomings of the many ways in which we acquire our beliefs.

Contents:

1. The Threat of Skepticism

1.1. What Is a Theory of Knowledge and Why Do We Need One?

1.2. The Argument from Illusion

1.3. Convincing the Skeptic

1.4. Reflective and Unreflective Belief Acquisition

1.5. A Natural Starting Place

1.6. Conclusion

Suggestions for Further Reading

2. The Phenomenon of Knowledge

2.1. The Beginning of an Inquiry

2.2. Children and Nonhuman Animals

2.3. Adult Humans: Unreflective Knowledge

2.4. Adult Humans: Reflective Knowledge

2.5. Social Dimensions of Knowledge

2.6. Conclusion

3. Knowledge from the Outside: The Third-​Person Perspective

3.1. What the Third-​Person Perspective Has to Offer

3.2. Perception

3.3. Inference

3.4. Conclusion

4. Knowledge from the Inside: The First-​Person Perspective

4.1. What the First-​Person Perspective Has to Offer

4.2. Deliberation from the Perspective of the Deliberator

4.3. Some Factors Involved in Reflective Checking on Beliefs One Already Holds

4.4. Reflection on What to Believe in the Absence of Preexisting Belief

4.5. Conclusion

5. From the Individual to the Social

5.1. Beyond Individual Cognition

5.2. A Puzzle about the Human Capacity to Reflect on Our Beliefs

5.3. An Adaptationist Hypothesis

5.4. What Reason Is There to Think That This Hypothesis Is Correct?

5.5. A Problem Case

5.6. Conclusion

6. Conclusion: Born to Know

6.1. How Is Knowledge Possible?

6.2. What Is Knowledge?

6.3. Conclusion.

Notes:

Also issued in print: 2021.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Kornblith, Hilary. Scientific epistemology

ISBN:

0-19-760959-7

0-19-760958-9

OCLC:

1249709921