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Books > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Epistemology, theory of knowledge
Why should inquiry be possible, only if some knowledge is required
to guide it, as conventionally understood? Contrary to the
conventional wisdom held by many thinkers in all human history
hitherto existing, there are some fundamental dialectic principles
hidden behind any categories of understanding in knowing. And these
principles impose some constraints, at both methodological and
ontological levels, together with other levels in culture, society,
nature, and the mind - on how reality is to be understood.
Furthermore, the specific categories of understanding (as
conventionally understood), even if valid at all (which are often
not the case), are often not that important, when compared with
these more fundamental dialectic principles hidden behind them. The
focus on understanding the nature of knowledge has been much
misplaced, in this sense, in the intellectual history hitherto
existing, and much time and talent have been wasted for something
less important. If true, this thesis will alter the way of how
knowledge is to be understood across the board.
Is written by a highly knowledgeable and well-respected scholarA
new theory called The Holistic Theory of KnowledgeA comprehensive
analysis of knowledge in relation to methodology and ontology, from
the perspectives of nature, the mind, society, and culture
Indian thought is well known for diverse philosophical and
contemplative excursions into the nature of selfhood. Led by
Buddhists and the yoga traditions of Hinduism and Jainism, Indian
thinkers have engaged in a rigorous analysis and
reconceptualization of our common notion of self. Less understood
is the way in which such theories of self intersect with issues
involving agency and free will; yet such intersections are
profoundly important, as all major schools of Indian thought
recognize that moral goodness and religious fulfillment depend on
the proper understanding of personal agency. Moreover, their
individual conceptions of agency and freedom are typically nodes by
which an entire school's epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical
perspectives come together as a systematic whole. Free Will,
Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy explores the contours of
this issue, from the perspectives of the major schools of Indian
thought. With new essays by leading specialists in each field, this
volume provides rigorous analysis of the network of issues
surrounding agency and freedom as developed within Indian thought.
The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Perception is a survey by
leading philosophical thinkers of contemporary issues and new
thinking in philosophy of perception. It includes sections on the
history of the subject, introductions to contemporary issues in the
epistemology, ontology and aesthetics of perception, treatments of
the individual sense modalities and of the things we perceive by
means of them, and a consideration of how perceptual information is
integrated and consolidated. New analytic tools and applications to
other areas of philosophy are discussed in depth. Each of the
forty-five entries is written by a leading expert, some
collaborating with younger figures; each seeks to introduce the
reader to a broad range of issues. All contain new ideas on the
topics covered; together they demonstrate the vigour and innovative
zeal of a young field. The book is accessible to anybody who has an
intellectual interest in issues concerning perception.
Adrian Bardon's A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time is a
short yet thorough introduction to the history, philosophy, and
science of the study of time-from the pre-Socratic philosophers
through Einstein and beyond. Its treatment is roughly
chronological, starting with the ancient Greek philosophers
Heraclitus and Parmenides and proceeding through the history of
Western philosophy and science up to the present. Using
illustrations and keeping technical language to a minimum, A Brief
History of the Philosophy of Time covers subjects such as time and
change, the experience of time, physical and metaphysical
approaches to the nature of time, the direction of time,
time-travel, time and freedom of the will, and scientific and
philosophical approaches to eternity and the beginning of time.
Bardon brings the resources of over 2500 years of philosophy and
science to bear on some of humanity's most fundamental and enduring
questions.
The Essential Berkeley and Neo-Berkeley is an introduction to the
life and work of one of the most significant thinkers in the
history of philosophy and a penetrating philosophical assessment of
his lasting legacy. Written in clear and user-friendly style,
Berman provides: * A concise summary of George Berkeley
(1685-1753)'s life and writings * An accessible introduction to the
structure of Berkeley's most authoritative work, The Principles of
Human Knowledge * An overview of common misunderstandings of
Berkeley's philosophy, and how to avoid them Beyond solely an
introduction, Berman also gives us a broader and deeper
appreciation of Berkeley as a philosopher. He argues for Berkeley's
work as a philosophical system with coherence and important key
themes hitherto unexplored and provides an analysis of why he
thinks Berkeley's work has had such lasting significance. With a
particular focus on Berkeley's dualist thinking and theories of
'mental types', Berman provides students and scholars with a key to
unlocking the significance of this work. This introductory text
will provide an insight into Berkeley's full body of work, the
distinctiveness of his thinking and how deeply relevant this key
thinker is to contemporary philosophy.
Combining conceptual analysis with well established empirical
evidence, this is an important new book in analytical
epistemology.Contemporary epistemology debates have largely been
occupied with formulating a definition of knowledge that is immune
to any counterexample. To date, no definition has been able to
escape unscathed.Moving away from debates about definitions,
"Virtue Epistemology" shows what conditions are essential for
knowledge and applies this account to different domains. It
proposes that agents must be motivated correctly to acquire
knowledge, even in the case of perception.Stephen Napier examines
closely the empirical research in cognitive science and moral
psychology to build an account of knowledge wherein an agent must
perform acts of virtue in order to get knowledge. In so doing,
Napier provides answers to two key questions: 'what is knowledge?'
and 'how do we get it?'
In Everything Ancient Was Once New, Emalani Case explores
Indigenous persistence through the concept of Kahiki, a term that
is at once both an ancestral homeland for Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiians)
and the knowledge that there is life to be found beyond Hawai'i's
shores. It is therefore both a symbol of ancestral connection and
the potential that comes with remembering and acting upon that
connection. Tracing physical, historical, intellectual, and
spiritual journeys to and from Kahiki, Emalani frames it as a place
of refuge and sanctuary, a place where ancient knowledge can
constantly be made anew. It is in Kahiki, she argues, and in the
sanctuary it creates, that today's Kanaka Maoli can find safety and
reprieve from the continued onslaught of settler colonial violence,
while also confronting some of the often uncomfortable and
challenging realities of being Indigenous in Hawai'i, in the
Pacific, and in the world. Each chapter of the book engages with
Kahiki as a shifting term, employed by Kanaka Maoli to explain
their lives and experiences to themselves at different points in
history. In doing so, Everything Ancient Was Once New proposes and
argues for reactivated and reinvigorated engagements with Kahiki,
each supporting ongoing work aimed at decolonizing physical and
ideological spaces, and reconnecting Kanaka Maoli to other peoples
and places in the Pacific region and beyond in ways that are both
purposeful and meaningful. In the book, Kahiki is therefore traced
through pivotal moments in history and critical moments in
contemporary times, explaining that while not always mentioned by
name, the idea of Kahiki was, and is, always full of potential. In
writing that is both personal and theoretical, Emalani weaves the
past and the present together, reflecting on ancient concepts and
their continued relevance in movements to protect lands, waters,
and oceans; to fight for social justice; to reexamine our
responsibilities and obligations to each other across the Pacific
region; and to open space for continued dialogue on what it means
to be Indigenous both when at home and when away. Combining
personal narrative and reflection with research and critical
analysis, Everything Ancient Was Once New journeys to and from
Kahiki, the sanctuary for reflection, deep learning, and continued
dreaming with the past, in the present, and far into the future.
Through original speculations on the surprisingly complementary
concepts of simultaneity and delay, and new interpretations of the
great philosophers of time, this book proposes an innovative theory
of staggered time. In the early 20th Century, Bergson and Husserl
(following Einstein) made Simultaneity-what it means for events to
occur at the same time-a central motif in philosophy.In the late
20th Century, Derrida and Deleuze instead emphasized Delay-events
staggered over distant times.This struggle between convergent and
staggered time also plays out in 20th Century aesthetics
(especially music), politics, and the sciences. Despite their
importance in the history of philosophy, this is the first book to
comprehensively examine the concepts of simultaneity and delay.By
putting simultaneity and delay into a dialectical relation, this
book argues that time in general is organized by elastic rhythms.
Lampert's concepts describe the time-structures of such diverse
phenomena as atonal music, political decision-making, neuronal
delays, leaps of memory and the boredom of waiting; and
simultaneities and delays in everyday experience and behaviour.
In this important new study, Paul Fairfield examines a number of
issues of central importance to philosophical hermeneutics. His aim
is less to reexamine the basic hypotheses of hermeneutics
(Gadamer's hermeneutics in particular) than to understand it in
relational terms, by bringing it into closer association with
existentialism, pragmatism, critical theory, and postmodernism.
Fairfield contends that there are important affinities and areas
for critical exchange between hermeneutics and these four schools
of thought which have, until now, remained underappreciated.
Philosophical Hermeneutics Reinterpreted examines several of these
connections by interpreting hermeneutics in relation to specific
themes in the writings of key figures within each of these
traditions. In so doing, he both clarifies some outstanding issues
in hermeneutics and advances the subject beyond what Heidegger,
Gadamer, and Ricoeur have given us.
Included in this volume is an introduction by the translator,
J.M.D. Meiklejohn. Revised edition, originally published by The
Colonial Press in 1899.
Included in this volume is an introduction by the translator,
J.M.D. Meiklejohn. Revised edition, originally published by The
Colonial Press in 1899.
Notes from the Crawl Room employs the lens and methods of horror
writing to critique the excesses and absurdities of philosophy.
Each story reveals disastrous and de-humanising effects of
philosophies that are separated from real, lived experience (e.g.
the absurdity of arguing over a sentence in Kant while the world
burns around us). From a Kafkaesque exploration of administrative
absurdities to the horrors of discursive violence, white supremacy
and the living spectres of patriarchy, A.M. Moskovitz doesn't shy
away from addressing the complex aspects of our lives. In addition
to offering often humourous critiques of philosophy, these works
are also, somewhat ironically, pieces of philosophy themselves.
Each story seeks to move a subject area forward offering the reader
the capacity to think through ideas in a weirder and more open way
than traditional philosophy usually allows. An antidote to
philosophy that seeks to close down and shut off the imaginative
potential of human thought, Notes from the Crawl Room revels in the
unsettling and creative potential of stories for revealing what
thinking philosophically might really mean.
Challenging existing methodological conceptions of the analytic
approach to aesthetics, Jukka Mikkonen brings together philosophy,
literary studies and cognitive psychology to offer a new theory on
the cognitive value of reading fiction. Philosophy, Literature and
Understanding defends the epistemic significance of narratives,
arguing that it should be explained in terms of understanding
rather than knowledge. Mikkonen formulates understanding as a
cognitive process, which he connects to narrative imagining in
order to assert that narrative is a central tool for communicating
understanding. Demonstrating the effects that literary works have
on their readers, he examines academic critical analysis, responses
of the reading public and nonfictional writings that include
autobiographical testimony to their writer's influences and
attitudes to life. In doing so, he provides empirical evidence of
the cognitive benefits of literature and of how readers demonstrate
the growth of their understanding. By drawing on the written
testimony of the reader, this book is an important intervention
into debates on the value of literature that incorporates
understanding in new and imaginative ways.
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