The structure of empirical knowledge.
Language: English
Published by Harvard University Press, 1988
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Kloof Booksellers & Scientia Verlag, Amsterdam, NetherlandsKloof Booksellers & Scientia Verlag
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Condition: Used - As new
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Cambridge, MA. : Harvard University Press, 1985. Paperback. xiii, 258 pp. - Laurence BonJour offers here a powerful critique of "foundationalism" and a careful, cogent presentation of a "coherentist" account of justification. His thesis is weaker than Brand Blanshard's; BonJour does not wish to defend a coherentist account of truth itself, nor a version of coherentism in which every fact is entailed by literally _every_ other. In one important sense this is a strength rather than a weakness; it would be a shame if coherentism were simply _identified_ with its strongest version, for coherentism itself could then be summarily dismissed if its "strong" form failed. On the other hand, in my own view BonJour devotes insufficient attention to the "strong" form, which I find more defensible than he does at least as a theoretical ideal. (He is right, though, that Blanshard's own account of "strong" coherentism requires a more detailed defense than Blanshard himself provided.) At any rate, BonJour's work belongs on the shortlist of top philosophical works in the rationalist camp. Together with his _In Defense of Pure Reason_, it is required reading for anyone interested in understanding and defending the role of reason in philosophy and elsewhere. Condition : as new copy. ISBN 9780674843813. Keywords : PHILOSOPHY. …
Seller Inventory # 293039
- Title
- The structure of empirical knowledge.
- Author
- BonJour, Laurence.
- Publisher
- Harvard University Press
- Publication year
- 1988
- Condition
- as new
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0674843819
- ISBN 13
- 9780674843813
- Edition
- 2nd Edition
How must our knowledge be systematically organized in order to justify our beliefs? There are two options―the solid securing of the ancient foundationalist pyramid or the risky adventure of the new coherentist raft. For the foundationalist like Descartes each piece of knowledge can be stacked to build a pyramid. Not so, argues Laurence BonJour. What looks like a pyramid is in fact a dead end, a blind alley. Better by far to choose the raft.
Here BonJour sets out the most extensive antifoundationalist argument yet developed. The first part of the book offers a systematic exposition of foundationalist views and formulates a general argument to show that no variety of foundationalism provides an acceptable account of empirical justification. In the second part he explores a coherence theory of empirical knowledge and argues that a defensible theory must incorporate an adequate conception of observation. The book concludes with an account of the correspondence theory of empirical truth and an argument that systems of empirical belief which satisfy the coherentist standard of justification are also likely to be true.
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Review
This book is a significant contribution. The overall structure of the book is well conceived. Each step in the argument is clearly motivated and many of the steps are original... The writing style is straightforward, clear, and polished.--Peter Klein, Rutgers University
The Structure of Empirical Knowledge is important as a very lucid and perceptive treatment of the coherence/foundations controversy. Thorough and careful, it is also well conceived and well written and does not get lost in details. It should be of interest to philosophers of every persuasion.--Ernest Sosa, Brown University
An important work... A penetrating analysis of difficulties in the major types of foundationalist theory and a defense of a novel version of the coherence theory of epistemic justification... A valuable work that will repay close examination by anyone concerned with what may well be the single most important problem in the theory of knowledge.--Choice
In this unpretentious, well-written study Laurence BonJour...rejects foundationalist theories of epistemic justification and sees no alternative to a coherence theory, the main features of which he goes on to elaborate. Clearly this is a major project... We are offered thought-provoking glimpses of the blueprints for certain large components, most notably a defense of internalism in the theory of justification, a coherentist notion of observation, and an appeal to a priori knowledge of probabilities in the 'metajustification' of a coherence theory... The virtues of this book include lucid writing, perspicuous organization, and careful argumentation.--Mind
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