The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge

The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge PDF Author: George F. McLean
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780819169266
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description

The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge

The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge PDF Author: George F. McLean
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780819169266
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description


Knowledge and Its Place in Nature

Knowledge and Its Place in Nature PDF Author: Hilary Kornblith
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199246319
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Philosophers have traditionally used conceptual analysis to investigate knowledge. Hilary Kornblith argues that this is misguided: it is not the concept of knowledge that we should be investigating, but knowledge itself, a robust natural phenomenon, suitable for scientific study. Cognitive ethologists not only attribute intentional states to non-human animals, they also speak of such animals as having knowledge; and this talk of knowledge does causal and explanatory work withintheir theories. The account of knowledge which emerges from this literature is a version of reliabilism: knowledge is reliably produced true belief.This account of knowledge is not meant merely to provide an elucidation of an important scientific category. Rather, Kornblith argues that knowledge, in this very sense, is what philosophers have been talking about all along. Rival accounts are examined in detail and it is argued that they are inadequate to the phenomenon of knowledge (even of human knowledge).One traditional objection to this sort of naturalistic approach to epistemology is that, in providing a descriptive account of the nature of important epistemic categories, it must inevitably deprive these categories of their normative force. But Kornblith argues that a proper account of epistemic normativity flows directly from the account of knowledge which is found in cognitive ethology. Knowledge may be properly understood as a real feature of the world which makes normative demands uponus.This controversial and refreshingly original book offers philosophers a new way to do epistemology.

Kant on the Sources of Metaphysics

Kant on the Sources of Metaphysics PDF Author: Marcus Willaschek
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110859607X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant famously criticizes traditional metaphysics and its proofs of immortality, free will and God's existence. What is often overlooked is that Kant also explains why rational beings must ask metaphysical questions about 'unconditioned' objects such as souls, uncaused causes or God, and why answers to these questions will appear rationally compelling to them. In this book, Marcus Willaschek reconstructs and defends Kant's account of the rational sources of metaphysics. After carefully explaining Kant's conceptions of reason and metaphysics, he offers detailed interpretations of the relevant passages from the Critique of Pure Reason (in particular, the 'Transcendental Dialectic') in which Kant explains why reason seeks 'the unconditioned'. Willaschek offers a novel interpretation of the Transcendental Dialectic, pointing up its 'positive' side, while at the same time it uncovers a highly original account of metaphysical thinking that will be relevant to contemporary philosophical debates.

The Contact Between Minds A Metaphysical Hypothesis

The Contact Between Minds A Metaphysical Hypothesis PDF Author: C DeLisle Burns
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The Contact Between Minds: A Metaphysical Hypothesis" by Cecil Delisle Burns is a thought-provoking book that explores the fascinating concept of mind-to-mind communication. Burns, a respected philosopher, delves into the realms of metaphysics to propose a hypothesis that challenges conventional notions of communication and the boundaries of human consciousness. With meticulous reasoning and deep philosophical inquiry, Burns presents his ideas on how minds may connect and exchange information beyond the limitations of traditional communication channels. This book invites readers to contemplate the mysteries of the human mind and opens up new possibilities for understanding the interconnectedness of consciousness.

Laws and Lawmakers

Laws and Lawmakers PDF Author: Marc Lange
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019974503X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
What distinguishes laws of nature from ordinary facts? What are the "lawmakers": the facts in virtue of which the laws are laws? How can laws be necessary, yet contingent? Lange provocatively argues that laws are distinguished by their necessity, which is grounded in primitive subjunctive facts, while also providing a non-technical and accessible survey of the field.

The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge

The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge PDF Author: George F. McLean
Publisher: University Press of Amer
ISBN: 9780819169273
Category : Metaphysics.
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description


Postmetaphysical Thinking II

Postmetaphysical Thinking II PDF Author: Jürgen Habermas
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745694934
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
‘There is no alternative to postmetaphysical thinking’: this statement, made by Jürgen Habermas in 1988, has lost none of its relevance. Postmetaphysical thinking is, in the first place, the historical answer to the crisis of metaphysics following Hegel, when the central metaphysical figures of thought began to totter under the pressure exerted by social developments and by developments within science. As a result, philosophy’s epistemological privilege was shaken to its core, its basic concepts were de-transcendentalized, and the primacy of theory over practice was opened to question. For good reasons, philosophy ‘lost its extraordinary status’, but as a result it also courted new problems. In Postmetaphysical Thinking II, the sequel to the 1988 volume that bears the same title (English translation, Polity 1992), Habermas addresses some of these problems. The first section of the book deals with the shift in perspective from metaphysical worldviews to the lifeworld, the unarticulated meanings and assumptions that accompany everyday thought and action in the mode of ‘background knowledge’. Habermas analyses the lifeworld as a ‘space of reasons’ – even where language is not (yet) involved, such as, for example, in gestural communication and rituals. In the second section, the uneasy relationship between religion and postmetaphysical thinking takes centre stage. Habermas picks up where he left off in 1988, when he made the far-sighted observation that ‘philosophy, even in its postmetaphysical form, will be able neither to replace nor to repress religion’, and explores philosophy’s new-found interest in religion, among other topics. The final section includes essays on the role of religion in the political context of a post-secular, liberal society. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, religion and the social sciences and humanities generally.

William Ockham on Metaphysics

William Ockham on Metaphysics PDF Author: Jenny Pelletier
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004230165
Category : History
Languages : la
Pages : 309

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Book Description
In William Ockham on Metaphysics, Jenny Pelletier offers an account of Ockham's concept of metaphysics as it emerges throughout his philosophical and theological work. She argues that Ockham (c. 1287-1347) believed metaphysics to be a fruitful branch of philosophy and gives a preliminary description of its distinctive subject-matter. Metaphysics is the science that studies all beings and their most general properties. Ockham was considered by some to be profoundly skeptical of metaphysics. Recent scholarship tends to focus on regional metaphysical issues (e.g. universals, relations), logic or semantics, theory of cognition, concepts, mental language. Jenny Pelletier provides a positive interpretation of Ockham on metaphysics as such that enriches our current understanding of this seminal medieval thinker.

Metaphysics: A Very Short Introduction

Metaphysics: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Stephen Mumford
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199657122
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
An introduction to metaphysics offers questions and answers covering such issues as properties, changes, time, personal identity, nothingness, and consciousness.

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism

A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism PDF Author: Anjan Chakravartty
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139468391
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
Scientific realism is the view that our best scientific theories give approximately true descriptions of both observable and unobservable aspects of a mind-independent world. Debates between realists and their critics are at the very heart of the philosophy of science. Anjan Chakravartty traces the contemporary evolution of realism by examining the most promising strategies adopted by its proponents in response to the forceful challenges of antirealist sceptics, resulting in a positive proposal for scientific realism today. He examines the core principles of the realist position, and sheds light on topics including the varieties of metaphysical commitment required, and the nature of the conflict between realism and its empiricist rivals. By illuminating the connections between realist interpretations of scientific knowledge and the metaphysical foundations supporting them, his book offers a compelling vision of how realism can provide an internally consistent and coherent account of scientific knowledge.