Author: Mariana Craciun
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226833917
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
"While many doctors can examine the body for cut-and-dry data-a cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure the hormones in your blood, an oncologist can locate a tumor--psychiatrists are in a unique position: the only way to know someone's mind is through their own account of it. In this ethnography, sociologist Mariana Craciun follows a group of young medical students studying psychiatry as they go through training in psychotherapy. Their instructors, experienced psychotherapists, introduce approaches designed to uncover the inner workings of the mind of each patient, a dramatic departure from the students' earlier focus on the brain's chemical functions and the drugs that treat them. Despite the uncertainty endemic to psychotherapeutic approaches, Craciun shows us how students transform from psychotherapy skeptics into believers. Ultimately, Craciun illuminates widespread conflicts at the intersection of professional authority, uncertainty, and expertise, as we see how professionals come to rethink the goals and purpose of their jobs when they acknowledge the uncertain outcomes of their work"--
From Skepticism to Competence
Author: Mariana Craciun
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226833917
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
"While many doctors can examine the body for cut-and-dry data-a cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure the hormones in your blood, an oncologist can locate a tumor--psychiatrists are in a unique position: the only way to know someone's mind is through their own account of it. In this ethnography, sociologist Mariana Craciun follows a group of young medical students studying psychiatry as they go through training in psychotherapy. Their instructors, experienced psychotherapists, introduce approaches designed to uncover the inner workings of the mind of each patient, a dramatic departure from the students' earlier focus on the brain's chemical functions and the drugs that treat them. Despite the uncertainty endemic to psychotherapeutic approaches, Craciun shows us how students transform from psychotherapy skeptics into believers. Ultimately, Craciun illuminates widespread conflicts at the intersection of professional authority, uncertainty, and expertise, as we see how professionals come to rethink the goals and purpose of their jobs when they acknowledge the uncertain outcomes of their work"--
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226833917
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
"While many doctors can examine the body for cut-and-dry data-a cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure the hormones in your blood, an oncologist can locate a tumor--psychiatrists are in a unique position: the only way to know someone's mind is through their own account of it. In this ethnography, sociologist Mariana Craciun follows a group of young medical students studying psychiatry as they go through training in psychotherapy. Their instructors, experienced psychotherapists, introduce approaches designed to uncover the inner workings of the mind of each patient, a dramatic departure from the students' earlier focus on the brain's chemical functions and the drugs that treat them. Despite the uncertainty endemic to psychotherapeutic approaches, Craciun shows us how students transform from psychotherapy skeptics into believers. Ultimately, Craciun illuminates widespread conflicts at the intersection of professional authority, uncertainty, and expertise, as we see how professionals come to rethink the goals and purpose of their jobs when they acknowledge the uncertain outcomes of their work"--
Scepticism Comes Alive
Author: Bryan Frances
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199282137
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
In epistemology the nagging voice of the sceptic has always been present. Over the last thirty years or so philosophers have thought of several promising ways to counter the radical sceptic: for instance, facts about the reliability of our cognitive processes, principles determining which possibilities must be ruled out in order to have knowledge, and principles regarding the context-sensitivity of knowledge attributions. In this entertaining and provocative book, Bryan Frances presents a new argument template for generating new kinds of radical scepticism, ones that hold even if all the clever anti-sceptical fixes defeat the traditional sceptic. Not only is the argument schema novel, but the sceptical consequences are entirely unexpected. Although the new sceptic concludes that we don't know that fire engines are red, that we sometimes have pains in our knees, or even that we believe that fire engines are red or that knees sometimes throb, he admits that we know millions of exotic truths such as the fact that black holes exist. You can know about the existence of black holes, but not about the colour of your shirt or even about what you believe regarding the colour of your shirt. The new sceptical arguments proceed in the usual way (here's a sceptical hypothesis; you can't neutralize it, you have to be able to neutralize it to know P; so you don't know P), but the sceptical hypotheses plugged into it are 'real live' scientific-philosophical hypotheses often thought to be actually true, such as error theories about belief, colour, pain location, and character traits. Frances investigates the questions, 'Under what conditions do we need to rule out these error theories in order to know things inconsistent with them?' and 'Can we rule them out?' Particular attention is paid to recent methods used to counter the traditional sceptic. Sharp, witty, and fun to read, Scepticism Comes Alive will be highly provocative for anyone interested in knowledge and its limits.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199282137
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
In epistemology the nagging voice of the sceptic has always been present. Over the last thirty years or so philosophers have thought of several promising ways to counter the radical sceptic: for instance, facts about the reliability of our cognitive processes, principles determining which possibilities must be ruled out in order to have knowledge, and principles regarding the context-sensitivity of knowledge attributions. In this entertaining and provocative book, Bryan Frances presents a new argument template for generating new kinds of radical scepticism, ones that hold even if all the clever anti-sceptical fixes defeat the traditional sceptic. Not only is the argument schema novel, but the sceptical consequences are entirely unexpected. Although the new sceptic concludes that we don't know that fire engines are red, that we sometimes have pains in our knees, or even that we believe that fire engines are red or that knees sometimes throb, he admits that we know millions of exotic truths such as the fact that black holes exist. You can know about the existence of black holes, but not about the colour of your shirt or even about what you believe regarding the colour of your shirt. The new sceptical arguments proceed in the usual way (here's a sceptical hypothesis; you can't neutralize it, you have to be able to neutralize it to know P; so you don't know P), but the sceptical hypotheses plugged into it are 'real live' scientific-philosophical hypotheses often thought to be actually true, such as error theories about belief, colour, pain location, and character traits. Frances investigates the questions, 'Under what conditions do we need to rule out these error theories in order to know things inconsistent with them?' and 'Can we rule them out?' Particular attention is paid to recent methods used to counter the traditional sceptic. Sharp, witty, and fun to read, Scepticism Comes Alive will be highly provocative for anyone interested in knowledge and its limits.
Exuberant Skepticism
Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615929703
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
For more than three decades, philosopher Paul Kurtz has been a strong advocate of skepticism, not only as a philosophical position, but also as a fulfilling way of life. Contrary to the view that skepticism is merely a negative, nay saying, or debunking stance toward commonly held beliefs, skepticism as defined by Kurtz emerges reborn as "skeptical inquiry"—a decidedly positive philosophy ready and able to change the world. In this definitive collection, editor John R. Shook has gathered together seventeen of Paul Kurtz’s most penetrating and insightful writings. Altogether these essays build an affirmative case for what can be known based on sound common sense, reason, and scientific method. And as each essay cogently and convincingly explains, so much can be known, from the natural world around us to the moral responsibilities among us. The work is organized in four topical sections. In the first, "Reasons to Be Skeptical," Kurtz presents compelling reasons why the methods of inquiry used by the sciences deserve respect. In short, science provides reliable knowledge, without which humanity would never have emerged from the age of myth and widespread ignorance. In the second section, "Skepticism and the Non-Natural," Kurtz shows how skeptical inquiry can be fruitfully used to critique both paranormal claims and religious worldviews. He also investigates whether science and religion can be compatible. In the third section, "Skepticism in the Human World," he considers how skeptical inquiry can be applied to politics, ethics, and pursuit of the good life. Realizing the essential connections between scientific knowledge, technological power, and social progress, Kurtz has understood, as few philosophers ever have, how the methods of intelligence can be applied to all areas of human endeavor. The book concludes with Kurtz’s authoritative reflections on the skeptical movement that he founded and has led. As he explains, the forces of blind faith and stubborn unreason still fight for control of the mind, so the skeptic can never rest. If there is a brighter future for humanity, a future in which every person enjoys a realistic opportunity for the pursuit of excellence, Kurtz’s ‘exuberant skepticism’ can show us the way.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615929703
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
For more than three decades, philosopher Paul Kurtz has been a strong advocate of skepticism, not only as a philosophical position, but also as a fulfilling way of life. Contrary to the view that skepticism is merely a negative, nay saying, or debunking stance toward commonly held beliefs, skepticism as defined by Kurtz emerges reborn as "skeptical inquiry"—a decidedly positive philosophy ready and able to change the world. In this definitive collection, editor John R. Shook has gathered together seventeen of Paul Kurtz’s most penetrating and insightful writings. Altogether these essays build an affirmative case for what can be known based on sound common sense, reason, and scientific method. And as each essay cogently and convincingly explains, so much can be known, from the natural world around us to the moral responsibilities among us. The work is organized in four topical sections. In the first, "Reasons to Be Skeptical," Kurtz presents compelling reasons why the methods of inquiry used by the sciences deserve respect. In short, science provides reliable knowledge, without which humanity would never have emerged from the age of myth and widespread ignorance. In the second section, "Skepticism and the Non-Natural," Kurtz shows how skeptical inquiry can be fruitfully used to critique both paranormal claims and religious worldviews. He also investigates whether science and religion can be compatible. In the third section, "Skepticism in the Human World," he considers how skeptical inquiry can be applied to politics, ethics, and pursuit of the good life. Realizing the essential connections between scientific knowledge, technological power, and social progress, Kurtz has understood, as few philosophers ever have, how the methods of intelligence can be applied to all areas of human endeavor. The book concludes with Kurtz’s authoritative reflections on the skeptical movement that he founded and has led. As he explains, the forces of blind faith and stubborn unreason still fight for control of the mind, so the skeptic can never rest. If there is a brighter future for humanity, a future in which every person enjoys a realistic opportunity for the pursuit of excellence, Kurtz’s ‘exuberant skepticism’ can show us the way.
The Systematicity Arguments
Author: Kenneth L. Aizawa
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461502756
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
This book addresses a part of a problem. The problem is to determine the architecture of cognition, that is, the basic structures and mechanisms underlying cognitive processing. This is a multidimensional problem insofar as there appear to be many distinct types of mechanisms that interact in diverse ways during cognitive processing. Thus, we have memory, attention, learning, sensation, perception, and who knows what else, interacting to produce behavior. As a case in point, consider a bit of linguistic behavior. To tell a friend that I think Greg won a stunning victory, I must evidently rely on various bits of information stored in my memory, including who my friends are, who Greg is, what he won, and what natural languages I share with my friend. I must sense and perceive that my friend is within hearing distance, how loud I need to speak, how loud I am speaking, and whether my friend is paying attention. I must avail myself of what I know about the language I share with my friend, along with innumerable principles about human "folk psychology. " This book does not address the full range of contemporary theorizing about cognitive architecture, but only a part. It addresses theories of cognitive architecture that hypothesize that there exist cognitive representations, then begins to explore the possible structure of these representations. One of the leading hypotheses concerning the structure of cognitive representations is that it is akin to that found in symbolic logic.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461502756
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
This book addresses a part of a problem. The problem is to determine the architecture of cognition, that is, the basic structures and mechanisms underlying cognitive processing. This is a multidimensional problem insofar as there appear to be many distinct types of mechanisms that interact in diverse ways during cognitive processing. Thus, we have memory, attention, learning, sensation, perception, and who knows what else, interacting to produce behavior. As a case in point, consider a bit of linguistic behavior. To tell a friend that I think Greg won a stunning victory, I must evidently rely on various bits of information stored in my memory, including who my friends are, who Greg is, what he won, and what natural languages I share with my friend. I must sense and perceive that my friend is within hearing distance, how loud I need to speak, how loud I am speaking, and whether my friend is paying attention. I must avail myself of what I know about the language I share with my friend, along with innumerable principles about human "folk psychology. " This book does not address the full range of contemporary theorizing about cognitive architecture, but only a part. It addresses theories of cognitive architecture that hypothesize that there exist cognitive representations, then begins to explore the possible structure of these representations. One of the leading hypotheses concerning the structure of cognitive representations is that it is akin to that found in symbolic logic.
Linguistic Intuitions
Author: Samuel Schindler
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198840551
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
This book examines the status and use of native speakers' intuitions in theorizing about language, drawing on the most recent work in both philosophy and linguistics. Chapters explore both the theoretical rationale for the evidential use of linguistic intuitions and the question of how this data should best be elicited.
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198840551
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
This book examines the status and use of native speakers' intuitions in theorizing about language, drawing on the most recent work in both philosophy and linguistics. Chapters explore both the theoretical rationale for the evidential use of linguistic intuitions and the question of how this data should best be elicited.
Gödel, Putnam, and Functionalism
Author: Jeff Buechner
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262261979
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
The first systematic examination of Hilary Putnam's arguments against computational functionalism challenges each of Putnam's main arguments. With mind-brain identity theories no longer dominant in philosophy of mind in the late 1950s, scientific materialists turned to functionalism, the view that the identity of any mental state depends on its function in the cognitive system of which it is a part. The philosopher Hilary Putnam was one of the primary architects of functionalism and was the first to propose computational functionalism, which views the human mind as a computer or an information processor. But, in the early 1970s, Putnam began to have doubts about functionalism, and in his masterwork Representation and Reality (MIT Press, 1988), he advanced four powerful arguments against his own doctrine of computational functionalism. In Gödel, Putnam, and Functionalism, Jeff Buechner systematically examines Putnam's arguments against functionalism and contends that they are unsuccessful. Putnam's first argument uses Gödel's incompleteness theorem to refute the view that there is a computational description of human reasoning and rationality; his second, the “triviality argument,” demonstrates that any computational description can be attributed to any physical system; his third, the multirealization argument, shows that there are infinitely many computational realizations of an arbitrary intentional state; his fourth argument buttresses this assertion by showing that there cannot be local computational reductions because there is no computable partitioning of the infinity of computational realizations of an arbitrary intentional state into a single package or small set of packages (equivalence classes). Buechner analyzes these arguments and the important inferential connections among them—for example, the use of both the Gödel and triviality arguments in the argument against local computational reductions—and argues that none of Putnam's four arguments succeeds in refuting functionalism. Gödel, Putnam, and Functionalism will inspire renewed discussion of Putnam's influential book and will confirm Representation and Reality as a major work by a major philosopher.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262261979
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
The first systematic examination of Hilary Putnam's arguments against computational functionalism challenges each of Putnam's main arguments. With mind-brain identity theories no longer dominant in philosophy of mind in the late 1950s, scientific materialists turned to functionalism, the view that the identity of any mental state depends on its function in the cognitive system of which it is a part. The philosopher Hilary Putnam was one of the primary architects of functionalism and was the first to propose computational functionalism, which views the human mind as a computer or an information processor. But, in the early 1970s, Putnam began to have doubts about functionalism, and in his masterwork Representation and Reality (MIT Press, 1988), he advanced four powerful arguments against his own doctrine of computational functionalism. In Gödel, Putnam, and Functionalism, Jeff Buechner systematically examines Putnam's arguments against functionalism and contends that they are unsuccessful. Putnam's first argument uses Gödel's incompleteness theorem to refute the view that there is a computational description of human reasoning and rationality; his second, the “triviality argument,” demonstrates that any computational description can be attributed to any physical system; his third, the multirealization argument, shows that there are infinitely many computational realizations of an arbitrary intentional state; his fourth argument buttresses this assertion by showing that there cannot be local computational reductions because there is no computable partitioning of the infinity of computational realizations of an arbitrary intentional state into a single package or small set of packages (equivalence classes). Buechner analyzes these arguments and the important inferential connections among them—for example, the use of both the Gödel and triviality arguments in the argument against local computational reductions—and argues that none of Putnam's four arguments succeeds in refuting functionalism. Gödel, Putnam, and Functionalism will inspire renewed discussion of Putnam's influential book and will confirm Representation and Reality as a major work by a major philosopher.
Intellectual Assurance
Author: Brett Coppenger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191030333
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
This volume presents a dozen essays by prominent contemporary epistemologists providing a careful examination and critical evaluation of traditional epistemic internalism. Unlike competing versions of internalism, the guiding principle of traditional internalism is not to accommodate our commonsense nonskeptical views about the rationality of our ordinary beliefs, but to emphasize the need for strong skepticism-resistant intellectual assurance that our ordinary beliefs (perceptual and otherwise) are true. The essays focus on what traditional internalism has to say about the following three topics: the nature of non-inferentially justified belief, the nature of inferentially justified belief, and the best way to respond to skepticism. The end product is a volume containing many probing objections to traditional internalism, pushing its proponents to provide creative new defenses if they want this old-fashioned view to survive in the modern world.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191030333
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
This volume presents a dozen essays by prominent contemporary epistemologists providing a careful examination and critical evaluation of traditional epistemic internalism. Unlike competing versions of internalism, the guiding principle of traditional internalism is not to accommodate our commonsense nonskeptical views about the rationality of our ordinary beliefs, but to emphasize the need for strong skepticism-resistant intellectual assurance that our ordinary beliefs (perceptual and otherwise) are true. The essays focus on what traditional internalism has to say about the following three topics: the nature of non-inferentially justified belief, the nature of inferentially justified belief, and the best way to respond to skepticism. The end product is a volume containing many probing objections to traditional internalism, pushing its proponents to provide creative new defenses if they want this old-fashioned view to survive in the modern world.
The Routledge Handbook of Trust and Philosophy
Author: Judith Simon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134881673
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 472
Book Description
Trust is pervasive in our lives. Both our simplest actions – like buying a coffee, or crossing the street – as well as the functions of large collective institutions – like those of corporations and nation states – would not be possible without it. Yet only in the last several decades has trust started to receive focused attention from philosophers as a specific topic of investigation. The Routledge Handbook of Trust and Philosophy brings together 31 never-before published chapters, accessible for both students and researchers, created to cover the most salient topics in the various theories of trust. The Handbook is broken up into three sections: I. What is Trust? II. Whom to Trust? III. Trust in Knowledge, Science, and Technology The Handbook is preceded by a foreword by Maria Baghramian, an introduction by volume editor Judith Simon, and each chapter includes a bibliography and cross-references to other entries in the volume.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134881673
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 472
Book Description
Trust is pervasive in our lives. Both our simplest actions – like buying a coffee, or crossing the street – as well as the functions of large collective institutions – like those of corporations and nation states – would not be possible without it. Yet only in the last several decades has trust started to receive focused attention from philosophers as a specific topic of investigation. The Routledge Handbook of Trust and Philosophy brings together 31 never-before published chapters, accessible for both students and researchers, created to cover the most salient topics in the various theories of trust. The Handbook is broken up into three sections: I. What is Trust? II. Whom to Trust? III. Trust in Knowledge, Science, and Technology The Handbook is preceded by a foreword by Maria Baghramian, an introduction by volume editor Judith Simon, and each chapter includes a bibliography and cross-references to other entries in the volume.
A Skeptic's Guide to Arts in the Church
Author: Mark Coppenger
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532649134
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Evangelical discourse on the role of arts in the church can be radioactive, and the twenty-one contributors to this book walk right into the “hot zone” to pick up on twenty contentious questions. The volume is a series of written dialogues, each one keyed to a cranky question, one that a skeptic might raise (hence the title). Herein, the gainsayers are taken seriously and given their voice. They even find support in some of the contributors’ comments. But apologists for greater use of arts and artists in the church have their say, and things can get edgy. Topics range from the biblically august (the Second Commandment; the regulative principle; Great Commission priorities) to the prudential (expense; “bohemian” influence; weaker brothers) to the programmatic (Christmas festivities; committee makeup). Some of the parties to the discussion are church staffers (pastors and ministers of music); some are professors; several are doctoral students; one is a college student; another, a gallery owner; yet another, a denominational ethicist; and there’s a Canadian and a Korean in the mix. The collection of speakers and opinions is illuminating and bracing, and the fruit of their thinking makes for great reading and discussion.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532649134
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Evangelical discourse on the role of arts in the church can be radioactive, and the twenty-one contributors to this book walk right into the “hot zone” to pick up on twenty contentious questions. The volume is a series of written dialogues, each one keyed to a cranky question, one that a skeptic might raise (hence the title). Herein, the gainsayers are taken seriously and given their voice. They even find support in some of the contributors’ comments. But apologists for greater use of arts and artists in the church have their say, and things can get edgy. Topics range from the biblically august (the Second Commandment; the regulative principle; Great Commission priorities) to the prudential (expense; “bohemian” influence; weaker brothers) to the programmatic (Christmas festivities; committee makeup). Some of the parties to the discussion are church staffers (pastors and ministers of music); some are professors; several are doctoral students; one is a college student; another, a gallery owner; yet another, a denominational ethicist; and there’s a Canadian and a Korean in the mix. The collection of speakers and opinions is illuminating and bracing, and the fruit of their thinking makes for great reading and discussion.
Externalism, Self-Knowledge, and Skepticism
Author: Sanford Goldberg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107063507
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
This collection of new essays explores the implications of semantic externalism for self-knowledge and skepticism.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107063507
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
This collection of new essays explores the implications of semantic externalism for self-knowledge and skepticism.