Contact with reality : Michael Polanyi's realism and why it matters / Esther Lightcap Meek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meek, Esther L., 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Polanyi, Michael, 1891-1976--Philosophy.

Polanyi, Michael.

Polanyi, Michael, 1891-1976--Criticism and interpretation.

Reality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 pages)

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Cascade Books, [2017]

Summary:

Is knowledge discovered, or just invented? Can we ever get outside ourselves to know how reality is in itself, independent of us? Philosophical realism raises the question whether in our knowing we connect with an independent reality--or only connect with our own mental constructs. Far from being a silly parlor game, the question impacts our lives concretely and deeply. Modern Western culture has been infected with antirealism and the doubt, skepticism, subjectivism, relativism, and atheism that attends it--not to mention distrust and arbitrary (mis)use of reality.Premier scientist-turned-philosopher Michael Polanyi stepped aside from research to offer an innovative account of knowing that takes its cue from how discovery actually happens. Polanyi defied the antirealism of the twentieth century, sounding a ringing note of hope in his repeated claim that in discovery, we know we have made contact with reality because "we have a sense of the possibility of indeterminate future manifestations." And that sense marks contact with reality, because it is the way reality is: abundant, generous, and fraught with as-yet-unnameable possibilities.This book examines that distinctive claim, contrasting it to the wider philosophical discussions regarding realism and antirealism in the recent decades. It shows why Polanyi's outlook is superior, and why that matters, not just to scientific discoverers, but to us all.

Contents:

Part 1. Early consideration of contact with reality

Personal knowledge

The structure of knowledge

Scientific discovery

Polanyi's realism

The reality statement

Contact with reality

Criteria of reality

Polanyi and contemporary realist issues (I.): Progress

Polanyi and contemporary realist issues (II): Truth, in particular correspondence

Polanyi and contemporary realism

Grounding Polanyi's realism: Merleau-Ponty

Part 2. Re-Calling contact with reality

Polanyi and Retrieving realism

The Current Conversation: The difference Polanyi would make

Recovering reality.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781498239844

1498239846