Epistemology: An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge

Epistemology......Page 4
Contents......Page 6
PREFACE......Page 12
Introduction......Page 14
Part I: Knowledge and Its Problems......Page 20
IS KNOWLEDGE TRUE JUSTIFIED BELIEF?......Page 22
MODES OF (PROPOSITIONAL) KNOWLEDGE......Page 26
OTHER BASIC PRINCIPLES......Page 29
2. Fallibilism and Truth Estimation......Page 34
PROBLEMS OF METAKNOWLEDGE......Page 35
THE PREFACE PARADOX......Page 38
THE DIALLELUS......Page 41
AN APORY AND ITS RECONCILIATION: K-DESTABILIZATION......Page 42
COSTS AND BENEFITS......Page 45
MORE ON FALLIBILISM......Page 46
THE COMPARATIVE FRAGILITY OF SCIENCE: SCIENTIFIC CLAIMS AS MERE ESTIMATES......Page 49
FALLIBILISM AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN OUR (PUTATIVE) TRUTH AND THE REAL TRUTH......Page 53
THE SKEPTICS “NO CERTAINTY” ARGUMENT......Page 56
THE ROLE OF CERTAINTY......Page 58
THE CERTAINTY OF LOGIC VERSUS THE CERTAINLY OF LIFE......Page 60
PRAGMATIC INCONSISTENCY......Page 61
SKEPTICISM AND RISK......Page 64
RATIONALITY AND COGNITIVE RISK......Page 68
THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION: COSTS AND BENEFITS......Page 72
THE DEFICIENCY OF SKEPTICISM......Page 75
EXPERIENCE AND FACT......Page 80
PROBLEMS OF COMMON-CAUSE EPISTEMOLOGY......Page 81
MODES OF JUSTIFICATION......Page 83
THE EVOLUTIONARY ASPECT OF SENSORY EPISTEMOLOGY......Page 87
RATIONAL VERSUS NATURAL SELECTION......Page 88
AGAINST “PURE” INTELLECTUALISM......Page 93
THE PROBLEM OF ERROR......Page 95
CONCLUSION......Page 97
THE NEED FOR PRESUMPTIONS......Page 100
THE ROLE OF PRESUMPTION......Page 104
PLAUSIBILITY AND PRESUMPTION......Page 106
PRESUMPTION AND PROBABILITY......Page 109
PRESUMPTION AND SKEPTICISM......Page 111
HOW PRESUMPTION WORKS: WHAT JUSTIFIES PRESUMPTIONS......Page 115
THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF SHARING AND COOPERATING IN INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT......Page 120
THE ADVANTAGES OF COOPERATION......Page 122
BUILDING UP TRUST: AN ECONOMIC APPROACH......Page 123
TRUST AND PRESUMPTION......Page 125
A COMMUNITY OF INQUIRERS......Page 127
Part II: Rational Inquiry and the Quest for Truth......Page 130
HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMIZATION: THE EUCLIDEAN MODEL OF KNOWLEDGE......Page 132
CYCLIC SYSTEMATIZATION: THE NETWORK— AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE EUCLIDEAN MODEL......Page 137
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN FOUNDATIONALISM AND COHERENTISM......Page 142
PROBLEMS OF FOUNDATIONALISM......Page 147
THE COHERENTIST APPROACH TO INQUIRY......Page 150
THE CENTRAL ROLE OF DATA FOR A COHERENTIST TRUTH-CRITERIOLOGY......Page 154
ON VALIDATING THE COHERENCE APPROACH......Page 158
IDEAL COHERENCE......Page 164
TRUTH AS AN IDEALIZATION......Page 166
9. Cognitive Relativism and Contextualism......Page 170
COGNITIVE REALISM......Page 171
WHAT’SWRONG WITH RELATIVISM......Page 173
THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL CONTEXTUALISM OF REASON......Page 174
A FOOTHOLD OF ONE’S OWN: THE PRIMACY OF OUR OWN POSITION......Page 178
THE ARBITRAMENT OF EXPERIENCE......Page 180
AGAINST RELATIVISM......Page 184
CONTEXTUALISTIC PLURALISM IS COMPATIBLE WITH COMMITMENT ON PURSUING “THE TRUTH”......Page 187
THE ACHILLES’ HEEL OF RELATIVISM......Page 189
OBJECTIVITY AND THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL UNIVERSALITY OF REASON......Page 192
THE BASIS OF OBJECTIVITY......Page 194
THE PROBLEM OF VALIDATING OBJECTIVITY......Page 196
WHAT IS RIGHT WITH OBJECTIVISM......Page 199
ABANDONING OBJECTIVITY IS PRAGMATICALLY SELF-DEFEATING......Page 201
STAGE-SETTING FOR THE PROBLEM......Page 206
OPTIMUM-INSTABILITY......Page 207
IDEAL VERSUS PRACTICAL RATIONALITY: THE PREDICAMENT OF REASON......Page 209
THE PROBLEM OF VALIDATING RATIONALITY......Page 212
THE PRAGMATIC TURN: EVEN COGNITIVE RATIONALITY HAS A PRAGMATIC RATIONALE......Page 215
ALTERNATIVE MODES OF RATIONALITY?......Page 217
THE SELF-RELIANCE OF RATIONALITY IS NOT VICIOUSLY CIRCULAR......Page 222
Part III: Cognitive Progress......Page 226
12. Scientific Progress......Page 228
THE EXPLORATION MODEL OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY......Page 229
THE DEMAND FOR DATA ENHANCEMENT......Page 230
TECHNOLOGICAL ESCALATION: AN ARMS RACE AGAINST NATURE......Page 231
THEORIZING AS INDUCTIVE PROJECTION......Page 234
LATER NEED NOT BE LESSER......Page 236
COGNITIVE COPERNICANISM......Page 240
THE PROBLEM OF PROGRESS......Page 242
13. The Law of Logarithmic Returns and the Complexification of Natural Science......Page 248
THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST EFFORT AND THE METHODOLOGICAL STATUS OF SIMPLICITY-PREFERENCE IN SCIENCE......Page 249
COMPLEXIFICATION......Page 253
THE EXPANSION OF SCIENCE......Page 258
THE LAW OF LOGARITHMIC RETURNS......Page 259
THE RATIONALE AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE LAW OF LOGARITHMIC RETURNS......Page 264
THE GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE......Page 267
THE DECELERATION OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS......Page 270
PREDICTIVE IMPLICATIONS OF THE INFORMATION/KNOWLEDGE RELATIONSHIP......Page 272
THE CENTRALITY OF QUALITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS......Page 273
CONDITIONS OF PERFECTED SCIENCE......Page 276
THEORETICAL ADEQUACY: ISSUES OF EROTETIC COMPLETENESS......Page 278
PRAGMATIC COMPLETENESS......Page 281
PREDICTIVE COMPLETENESS......Page 283
TEMPORAL FINALITY......Page 286
“PERFECTED SCIENCE” AS AN IDEALIZATION THAT AFFORDS A USEFUL CONTRAST CONCEPTION......Page 290
THE DISPENSABILITY OF PERFECTION......Page 293
Part IV: Cognitive Limits and the Quest for Truth......Page 296
EXPLAINING THE POSSIBILITY OF NATURAL SCIENCE......Page 298
“OUR” SIDE......Page 301
NATURE’S SIDE......Page 303
SYNTHESIS......Page 306
IMPLICATIONS......Page 308
THE POTENTIAL DIVERSITY OF “SCIENCE”......Page 312
THE ONE WORLD, ONE SCIENCE ARGUMENT......Page 316
A QUANTITATIVE PERSPECTIVE......Page 318
COMPARABILITY AND JUDGMENTS OF RELATIVE ADVANCEMENT OR BACKWARDNESS......Page 324
BASIC PRINCIPLES......Page 327
17. On Ignorance, Insolubilia, and the Limits of Knowledge......Page 334
CONCRETE VERSUS GENERIC KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE......Page 335
EROTETIC INCAPACITY......Page 336
DIVINE VERSUS MUNDANE KNOWLEDGE......Page 337
ISSUES OF TEMPORALIZED KNOWLEDGE......Page 338
KANT’S PRINCIPLE OF QUESTION EXFOLIATION......Page 340
COGNITIVE INCAPACITY......Page 342
INSOLUBILIA THEN AND NOW......Page 343
COGNITIVE LIMITS......Page 344
IDENTIFYING INSOLUBILIA......Page 346
RELATING KNOWLEDGE TO IGNORANCE......Page 348
POSTSCRIPT: A COGNITIVELY INDETERMINATE UNIVERSE......Page 349
18. Cognitive Realism......Page 352
EXISTENCE......Page 353
HOMO MENSURA?......Page 354
REALISM AND INCAPACITY......Page 356
THE COGNITIVE OPACITY OF REAL THINGS......Page 358
THE COGNITIVE INEXHAUSTIBILITY OF THINGS......Page 360
THE CORRIGIBILITY OF CONCEPTIONS......Page 362
COGNITIVE PROGRESS......Page 363
COGNITIVE DYNAMICS......Page 364
CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF REALISM AS A POSTULATE......Page 366
HIDDEN DEPTHS: THE IMPETUS TO REALISM......Page 371
THE PRAGMATIC FOUNDATION OF REALISM AS A BASIS FOR COMMUNICATION AND DISCOURSE......Page 374
THE IDEALISTIC ASPECT OF METAPHYSICAL REALISM......Page 379
SCIENCE AND REALITY......Page 380
CHAPTER 1......Page 388
CHAPTER 2......Page 389
CHAPTER 3......Page 391
CHAPTER 4......Page 394
CHAPTER 5......Page 395
CHAPTER 6......Page 398
CHAPTER 7......Page 400
CHAPTER 8......Page 401
CHAPTER 9......Page 403
CHAPTER 10......Page 404
CHAPTER 11......Page 405
CHAPTER 12......Page 406
CHAPTER 13......Page 409
CHAPTER 14......Page 413
CHAPTER 15......Page 414
CHAPTER 16......Page 415
CHAPTER 17......Page 416
CHAPTER 18......Page 417
D......Page 422
K......Page 423
R......Page 424
Z......Page 425