The Current State of the Coherence Theory

The Current State of the Coherence Theory PDF Author: J. Bender
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400923600
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
The subtitle of this book should be read as a qualification as much as an elaboration of the title. If the goal were completeness, then this book would have included essays on the work of other philosophers such as Wilfrid Sellars, Nicholas Rescher, Donald Davidson, Gilbert Harman and Michael Williams. Although it would be incorrect to say that each of these writers has set forth a version of the coherence theory of justification and knowledge, it is clear that their work is directly relevant, and reaction to it could easily fill a companion volume. This book concentrates, however, on the theories of Keith Lehrer and Laurence BonJour, and I doubt that any epistemologist would deny that they are presently the two leading proponents of coherentism. A sure indication of this was the ease with which the papers in this volume were solicited and delivered. The many authors represented here were willing, prepared, and excited to join in the discussion of BonJour's and Lehrer's recent writings. I thank each one personally for agreeing so freely to contribute. All of the essays but two are published for the first time here. Marshall Swain's and Alvin Goldman's papers were originally presented at a symposium on BonJour's The Structure of Empirical Knowledge at the annual meeting of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, Illinois, in April, 1987.

The Current State of the Coherence Theory

The Current State of the Coherence Theory PDF Author: J. Bender
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400923600
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
The subtitle of this book should be read as a qualification as much as an elaboration of the title. If the goal were completeness, then this book would have included essays on the work of other philosophers such as Wilfrid Sellars, Nicholas Rescher, Donald Davidson, Gilbert Harman and Michael Williams. Although it would be incorrect to say that each of these writers has set forth a version of the coherence theory of justification and knowledge, it is clear that their work is directly relevant, and reaction to it could easily fill a companion volume. This book concentrates, however, on the theories of Keith Lehrer and Laurence BonJour, and I doubt that any epistemologist would deny that they are presently the two leading proponents of coherentism. A sure indication of this was the ease with which the papers in this volume were solicited and delivered. The many authors represented here were willing, prepared, and excited to join in the discussion of BonJour's and Lehrer's recent writings. I thank each one personally for agreeing so freely to contribute. All of the essays but two are published for the first time here. Marshall Swain's and Alvin Goldman's papers were originally presented at a symposium on BonJour's The Structure of Empirical Knowledge at the annual meeting of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, Illinois, in April, 1987.

Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light

Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light PDF Author: Emil Wolf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521822114
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Get Book Here

Book Description
All optical fields undergo random fluctuations. They may be small, as in the output of many lasers, or they may be appreciably larger, as in light generated by thermal sources. The underlying theory of fluctuating optical fields is known as coherence theory. An important manifestation of the fluctuations is the phenomenon of partial polarization. Actually, coherence theory deals with considerably more than fluctuations. Unlike usual treatments, it describes optical fields in terms of observable quantities and elucidates how such quantities, for example, the spectrum of light, change as light propagates. This book is the first to provide a unified treatment of the phenomena of coherence and polarization. The unification has been made possible by very recent discoveries, largely due to the author of this book. The subjects treated in this volume are of considerable importance for graduate students and for research workers in physics and in engineering, who are concerned with optical communications, with propagation of laser beams through fibers and through the turbulent atmosphere, with optical image formation, particularly in microscopes, and with medical diagnostics, for example. Each chapter contains problems to aid self-study. Book jacket.

Coherence in Thought and Action

Coherence in Thought and Action PDF Author: Paul Thagard
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262700924
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is an essay on how people make sense of each other and the world they live in. Making sense is the activity of fitting something puzzling into a coherent pattern of mental representations that include concepts, beliefs, goals, and actions. Paul Thagard proposes a general theory of coherence as the satisfaction of multiple interacting constraints, and discusses the theory's numerous psychological and philosophical applications. Much of human cognition can be understood in terms of coherence as constraint satisfaction, and many of the central problems of philosophy can be given coherence-based solutions. Thagard shows how coherence can help to unify psychology and philosophy, particularly when addressing questions of epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. He also shows how coherence can integrate cognition and emotion.

Real Knowing

Real Knowing PDF Author: Linda Alcoff
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801430473
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Real" knowing always involves a political dimension, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests. But this does not mean we need to give up realism or the possibility of truth. Recent work in continental philosophy insists on the influence that power and desire exert on knowing, whereas contemporary analytic philosophy largely ignores these political concerns in its accounts of justification and truth. Alcoff engages these traditionally conflicting approaches in a constructive dialogue, effectively spanning the analytic/continental divide.In provocative readings of major figures in the continental tradition, Alcoff shows that the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Michel Foucault can help rectify key problems in coherence epistemology, such as the link between coherence and truth. She also argues that discussions about knowledge among continental philosophers can benefit from the work of analytic philosophers Donald Davidson and Hilary Putnam on meaning and ontology. Alcoff makes a compelling case for the need to address truth as a metaphysical issue, in contrast to minimalist tendencies in Anglo-American philosophy and deconstructionism on the continent. Her work persuasively argues for coherentist epistemology as a more realistic reconfiguration of the ontology of truth.

Big Picture Thinking

Big Picture Thinking PDF Author: Aileen Zeitz Collucci
Publisher: AAPC Publishing
ISBN: 9781934575864
Category : Autistic children
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
A series of lessons and information for teaching students to analyze social situations, break them down into their component parts and then adding everything together again to create a whole-- the big picture.

Quantum Interference and Coherence

Quantum Interference and Coherence PDF Author: Zbigniew Ficek
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387229655
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book brings together and discusses for the first time detailed analyses of the experiments with trapped ions, experiments on quantum beats, coherent population trapping, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), electromagnetically induced absorption, creation of dark-states polaritons, subluminal and superluminal light, realization of a Fock state, and interference experiments in atom optics on atom grating, momentum distribution, and atom tunneling. This book is unique in many respects and will fill a gap in the literature.

Against Coherence

Against Coherence PDF Author: Erik J. Olsson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199279993
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Get Book Here

Book Description
It is tempting to think that, if a person's beliefs are coherent, they are also likely to be true. Indeed, this truth-conduciveness claim is the cornerstone of the popular coherence theory of knowledge and justification. Hitherto much confusion has been caused by the inability of coherence theorists to define their central concept. Nor have they succeeded in specifying in unambiguous terms what the notion of truth-conduciveness involves. This book is the most extensive and detailedstudy of coherence and probable truth to date.Erik Olsson argues that the value of coherence has been generally overestimated; it is severely problematic to maintain that coherence has a role to play in the process whereby beliefs are acquired or justified. He proposes that the opposite of coherence, i.e. incoherence, can still be the driving force in the process whereby beliefs are retracted, so that the role of coherence in our enquiries is negative rather than positive. Another innovative feature of Olsson's book is its unified,interdisciplinary approach to the issues at hand. The arguments are equally valid for coherence among any items of information, regardless of their sources (beliefs, memories, testimonies, and so on). Writing in accessible, non-technical language, Olsson takes the reader through much of the history of thesubject, from early theorists like A. C. Ewing and C. I. Lewis to contemporary figures like Laurence BonJour and C. A. J. Coady. Against Coherence will make stimulating reading for epistemologists and anyone with a serious interest in truth.

Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics

Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics PDF Author: Leonard Mandel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521417112
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1200

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents a systematic account of optical coherence theory within the framework of classical optics, as applied to such topics as radiation from sources of different states of coherence, foundations of radiometry, effects of source coherence on the spectra of radiated fields, coherence theory of laser modes, and scattering of partially coherent light by random media.

An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge

An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge PDF Author: Noah Lemos
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521842136
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
Epistemology or the theory of knowledge is one of the cornerstones of analytic philosophy, and this book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the subject. It discusses some of the main theories of justification, including foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism, and virtue epistemology. Other topics include the Gettier problem, internalism and externalism, skepticism, the problem of epistemic circularity, the problem of the criterion, a priori knowledge, and naturalized epistemology. Intended primarily for students taking a first class in epistemology, this lucid and well-written text would also provide an excellent introduction for anyone interested in knowing more about this important area of philosophy.

Elements of Optical Coherence Theory

Elements of Optical Coherence Theory PDF Author: Arvind S. Marathay
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description