The Possibility of Philosophical Understanding

The Possibility of Philosophical Understanding PDF Author: Jason Bridges
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195381653
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Barry Stroud's work has had a profound impact on a very wide array of philosophical topics, but there has heretofore been no book-length treatment of his work. The current collection aims to redress this gap, with 13 essays on Stroud's work, all but one new to this volume.

Philosophical Explanations

Philosophical Explanations PDF Author: Robert Nozick
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674266277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 788

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Book Description
In this highly original work, Robert Nozick develops new views on philosophy’s central topics and weaves them into a unified philosophical perspective. It is many years since a major work in English has ranged so widely over philosophy’s fundamental concerns: the identity of the self, knowledge and skepticism, free will, the question of why there is something rather than nothing, the foundations of ethics, the meaning of life. Writing in a distinctive and personal philosophical voice, Mr. Nozick presents a new mode of philosophizing. In place of the usual semi-coercive philosophical goals of proof, of forcing people to accept conclusions, this book seeks philosophical explanations and understanding, and thereby stays truer to the original motivations for being interested in philosophy. Combining new concepts, daring hypotheses, rigorous reasoning, and playful exploration, the book exemplifies how philosophy can be part of the humanities.

Philosophical Devices: Proofs, Probabilities, Possibilities, and Sets

Philosophical Devices: Proofs, Probabilities, Possibilities, and Sets PDF Author: David Papineau
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191656240
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This book is designed to explain the technical ideas that are taken for granted in much contemporary philosophical writing. Notions like denumerability, modal scope distinction, Bayesian conditionalization, and logical completeness are usually only elucidated deep within difficult specialist texts. By offering simple explanations that by-pass much irrelevant and boring detail, Philosophical Devices is able to cover a wealth of material that isnormally only available to specialists. The book contains four sections, each of three chapters. The first section is about sets and numbers, starting with the membership relation and ending with the generalized continuum hypothesis. The second is about analyticity, a prioricity, and necessity. The third is about probability, outlining the difference between objective and subjective probability and exploring aspects of conditionalization and correlation. The fourth deals with metalogic, focusing on the contrast between syntax andsemantics, and finishing with a sketch of Gödels theorem. Philosophical Devices will be useful for university students who have got past the foothills of philosophy and are starting to read more widely, but it does not assume any prior expertise. All the issues discussed are intrinsically interesting, and often downright fascinating. It can be read with pleasure and profit by anybody who is curious about the technical infrastructure of contemporary philosophy.

Scientific Understanding

Scientific Understanding PDF Author: Henk W. de Regt
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822971240
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
To most scientists, and to those interested in the sciences, understanding is the ultimate aim of scientific endeavor. In spite of this, understanding, and how it is achieved, has received little attention in recent philosophy of science. Scientific Understanding seeks to reverse this trend by providing original and in-depth accounts of the concept of understanding and its essential role in the scientific process. To this end, the chapters in this volume explore and develop three key topics: understanding and explanation, understanding and models, and understanding in scientific practice. Earlier philosophers, such as Carl Hempel, dismissed understanding as subjective and pragmatic. They believed that the essence of science was to be found in scientific theories and explanations. In Scientific Understanding, the contributors maintain that we must also consider the relation between explanations and the scientists who construct and use them. They focus on understanding as the cognitive state that is a goal of explanation and on the understanding of theories and models as a means to this end. The chapters in this book highlight the multifaceted nature of the process of scientific research. The contributors examine current uses of theory, models, simulations, and experiments to evaluate the degree to which these elements contribute to understanding. Their analyses pay due attention to the roles of intelligibility, tacit knowledge, and feelings of understanding. Furthermore, they investigate how understanding is obtained within diverse scientific disciplines and examine how the acquisition of understanding depends on specific contexts, the objects of study, and the stated aims of research.

The Philosophy Book

The Philosophy Book PDF Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1465441069
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 772

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Book Description
Discover how our big social, political and ethical ideas are formed with The Philosophy Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Philosophy in this overview guide to the subject, great for beginners looking to learn and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Philosophy Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in. This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Philosophy, with: - Key quotes from more than 100 of the great thinkers of philosophy - Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts - A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout - Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding The Philosophy Book is the perfect introduction to philosophy, aimed at adults with an interest in the subject and students wanting to gain more of an overview. Here you'll discover how key concepts in philosophy have shaped our world, with authoritative articles that explore big ideas. Learn about everyone who's contributed to the flow of world philosophy, from antiquity to the modern age, through superb mind maps explaining the line of thought. Your Philosophical Questions, Simply Explained If you thought it was difficult to learn philosophy and its many concepts, The Philosophy Book presents the key ideas in a clear layout. Find out what philosophers thought about the nature of reality, and the fundamental questions we ask ourselves; What is the meaning of life? What is the Universe made of? And work your way through the different branches of philosophy such as metaphysics and ethics, from ancient and modern thinkers. The Big Ideas Series With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Philosophy Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking graphics along with engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.

Seeing, Knowing, Understanding

Seeing, Knowing, Understanding PDF Author: Barry Stroud
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198809751
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Barry Stroud presents nineteen of his philosophical essays written since 2001, on topics to do with knowing, seeing, and understanding. He discusses the nature of philosophy, sense experience, the possibility of perceptual knowledge, intentional action and self-knowledge, the reality of the colours of things, alien thought and the limits of understanding, moral knowledge, meaning, use, and understanding of language.

Philosophical Frameworks for Understanding Information Systems

Philosophical Frameworks for Understanding Information Systems PDF Author: Basden, Andrew
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1599040387
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
"There are five main areas in which humans relate to information and communications technology: the nature of computers and information, the creation of information technologies, the development of artifacts for human use, the usage of information systems, and IT as our environment. This book strives to develop philosophical frameworks for these areas"--Provided by publisher.

Seeing, Knowing, Understanding

Seeing, Knowing, Understanding PDF Author: Barry Stroud
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780191859205
Category : PHILOSOPHY
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Barry Stroud presents 19 of his philosophical essays, on the nature of philosophy, sense experience, the possibility of perceptual knowledge, intentional action and self-knowledge, the reality of the colours of things, alien thought and the limits of understanding, moral knowledge, meaning, use and understanding of language.

Understanding Human Knowledge

Understanding Human Knowledge PDF Author: Barry Stroud
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198250333
Category : Knowledge, Theory of
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Since the 1970s Barry Stroud has been one of the most original contributors to the philosophical study of human knowledge. This volume presents the best of Stroud's essays in this area. Throughout, he seeks to clearly identify the question that philosophical theories of knowledge are meant to answer, and the role scepticism plays in making sense of that question. In these seminal essays, he suggests that people pursuing epistemology need to concern themselves with whether philosophical scepticism is true or false. Stroud's discussion of these fundamental questions is essential reading for anyone whose work touches on the subject of human knowledge.

Probability

Probability PDF Author: D. H. Mellor
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415282505
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
This work presents the basic concepts of probability to philosophy students who are new to this area of the subject.