Knowledge in a social world / Alvin I. Goldman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goldman, Alvin I., 1938- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social epistemology.

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 407 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1999.

Summary:

Here is a philosophy for the information age. Social, cultural, and technological changes present new challenges to our ways of knowing and understanding, and philosophy must face these challenges. Alvin Goldman explores new frontiers by creating a thoroughgoing social epistemology, moving beyond the traditional focus on solitary knowers, rescuing truth from fashionable assaults and demonstrating its importance to society.

Contents:

Intro

Preface

Contents

Part One: Foundations

1 Epistemology and Postmodern Resistance

1.1 Truth seeking in the social world

1.2 Veriphobia

1.3 Six criticisms of truth-based epistemology

1.4 The argument from social construction

1.5 Language and worldmaking

1.6 The unknowability criticism

1.7 The denial of epistemic privilege

1.8 The argument from domination

1.9 The argument from bias

2 Truth

2.1 Approaches to the theory of truth

2.2 Instrumentalism and relativism

2.3 Epistemic approaches to truth

2.4 Realisms, antirealisms, and truth

2.5 Deflationism

2.6 The correspondence theory

2.7 Partial compatibility between correspondence and deflation?

3 The Framework

3.1 Alternative conceptions of social epistemology

3.2 Employing veritism

3.3 Veritism and circularity

3.4 Veritistic value

3.5 Complications: interests, attribution, and questions

Part Two: Generic Social Practices

4 Testimony

4.1 The social spread of knowledge

4.2 A Bayesian inference practice

4.3 A veritistic rationale for Bayesian inference

4.4 Estimating testimonial likelihoods

4.5 Justification of testimony-based belief

5 Argumentation

5.1 Monological argumentation

5.2 Dialogical argumentation

5.3 Truth-in-evidence and the cultural climate for argumentation

5.4 Fallacies and good argumentation

5.5 Alternative approaches to argumentation

6 The Technology and Economics of Communication

6.1 How technology matters to knowledge

6.2 Computer-mediated communication

6.3 The economics of scholarly communication

6.4 The economics of the mass media

7 Speech Regulation and the Marketplace of Ideas

7.1 Third-party and institutional influences on speech

7.2 Economic theory, market effciency, and veritistic value.

7.3 When and how nonmarket regulation can help

7.4 The metaphorical marketplace and truth

7.5 State regulation and metaregulation

Part Three: Special Domains

8 Science

8.1 Science as convention or "form of life"

8.2 A political-military account of science

8.3 Biases and interests

8.4 The theory ladenness of observation

8.5 Underdetermination of theory

8.6 Scientific realism and the veritistic superiority of science

8.7 The case for scientific superiority

8.8 Sources of scientific success

8.9 The distribution of scientific research

8.10 The drive for credit

8.11 Scientific publication

8.12 Recognizing authority

9 Law

9.1 Truth and legal adjudication

9.2 Alternative criteria of a good adjudication system

9.3 Truth and the Bill of Rights

9.4 Common-law vs. civil-law traditions

9.5 Exclusionary rules

9.6 Adversary control of proceedings

9.7 Discovery and secrecy

9.8 Expert testimony

9.9 Juries

10 Democracy

10.1 Knowledge and the nature of voting

10.2 Voting and information as studied by political science

10.3 Core voter knowledge

10.4 The democratic value of core voter knowledge

10.5 Improving core information

10.6 Democracy and the press

10.7 Multicandidate elections

10.8 Other types of beneficial knowledge

11 Education

11.1 Goals, methods, and interests

11.2 Veritism and multiculturalism

11.3 Postmodernism and collaborative learning

11.4 Critical thinking, trust, and pedagogy

11.5 Curricular content and epistemic authority

Bibliography

Index of Names

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z

General Index

W.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [373]-393) and indexes.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612051876

9780191519284

0191519286

9780191597527

019159752X

9780198237778

0198237774

9781282051874

1282051873

OCLC:

191826774