Reference, Truth and Conceptual Schemes: A Defense of Internal Realism: 296 (Synthese Library, 296) - Softcover

Forrai, G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9048156777 ISBN 13: 9789048156771

Publisher: Springer, 2010

Synopsis

1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The purpose of the book is to develop internal realism, the metaphysical-episte­ mological doctrine initiated by Hilary Putnam (Reason, Truth and History, "Introduction", Many Faces). In doing so I shall rely - sometimes quite heavily - on the notion of conceptual scheme. I shall use the notion in a somewhat idiosyncratic way, which, however, has some affinities with the ways the notion has been used during its history. So I shall start by sketching the history of the notion. This will provide some background, and it will also give opportunity to raise some of the most important problems I will have to solve in the later chapters. The story starts with Kant. Kant thought that the world as we know it, the world of tables, chairs and hippopotami, is constituted in part by the human mind. His cen­ tral argument relied on an analysis of space and time, and presupposed his famous doctrine that knowledge cannot extend beyond all possible experience. It is a central property of experience - he claimed - that it is structured spatially and temporally. However, for various reasons, space and time cannot be features of the world, as it is independently of our experience. So he concluded that they must be the forms of human sensibility, i. e. necessary ingredients of the way things appear to our senses.

About this title

Product Description:

This systematic development of the internal realist approach, first developed by Hilary Putnam, tries to steer a middle course between metaphysical realism and relativism. It argues against metaphysical realism that it is open to global skepticism and cannot cope with conceptual pluralism. Against realism it is claimed that there are mind-independent constraints on the validity of our claims to knowledge. The book provides a moderately verificationist account of semantics and a novel explanation of the idea of conceptual schemes. It is also argued that the approach developed can accommodate our commonsense realist intuitions and is also compatible with physicalism and naturalism. Readership: Philosophers at graduate student and advanced level. Advanced undergraduate courses could be based on certain parts of the book.

Review:

`The book is lucidly written and well organized, and contains just the right amount of background in general and astronomical history to orient non-specialist readers.'
Annals of Science, 58(2001)

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 9048156777
• ISBN 13: 9789048156771
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 170