TESTIMONY: A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY

Coady, C.A.J. [Cecil Anthony John]

ISBN 10: 0198247869 / ISBN 13: 9780198247869

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, Toronto, 1992

About this Item

Octavo, x, xi, 315 pages. In Very Good condition with a Very Good dust jacket. Spine dark green with white lettering. Dust jacket protected with a mylar covering. Exterior has very slight wear including sunning to the spine. Faint age toning to the flaps and minimal age toning inside jacket. Boards have extremely light wear including minimal sunning to the head/tail edges. Text block has light wear including minimal age toning to the edges. Illustrated. First edition. NOTE: Shelved in Netdesk Column Q, ND-Q. 1396268. FP New Rockville Stock.

Seller Inventory # 1396268

Bibliographic Details

• Title: TESTIMONY: A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, Toronto
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198247869
• ISBN 13: 9780198247869
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

The role of testimony in the getting of reliable belief or knowledge is a central but neglected epistemological issue. Western philosophical tradition has paid scant attention to the individual thinker's reliance upon the word of others; yet we are in fact profoundly dependent on others for a vast amount of what any of us claims to know.

Professor Coady begins by exploring the nature and depth of our reliance upon testimony, addressing the complex definitional puzzles surrounding the idea. He analyses the tradition of debate on the topic in order to reveal the epistemic individualism which has given rise to an illusory ideal of `autonomous knowledge', and to gain a deeper understanding of the issues. He concludes this part of the book by showing what a feasible justification of testimony as a source of knowledge could be. In the second half of the book the author uses this new view of testimony to challenge certain widespread assumptions in the fields of history, mathematics, psychology, and law.

From the Back Cover

The role of testimony in the getting of reliable belief or knowledge is a central but neglected epistemological issue. Western philosophical tradition has paid scant attention to the individual thinker's reliance upon the word of others; yet this reliance is both extensive and often hidden from view. Professor Coady begins by exploring the nature and depth of our reliance upon testimony, addressing the complex definitional puzzles surrounding the idea. He analyses the tradition of debate on the topic in order to gain a deeper understanding of the issues and to reveal the epistemic individualism which has given rise to an illusory ideal of 'autonomous knowledge'. Avoiding such individualist commitments, he concludes this part of the book by providing a defence of testimony as a source of knowledge. In the second half of the book the author uses this new view of testimony to challenge certain widespread assumptions in the fields of history, mathematics, psychology, and law.