Testimony: A Philosophical Study - Couverture souple

Coady, C. A. J.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0198235518 ISBN 13 : 9780198235514

Editeur : Oxford University Press, USA, 1995

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.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

the book is an important event in philosophy ... Coady's work should change the way we think about the nature and scope of human knowledge ... Coady has his answers to the standard problems. Read the book and judge it for yourselves ... excellent book. (M. F. Burnyeat, London Review of Books)

a valuable book, a thorough and systematic study of a much neglected subject (Michael Welbourne, Philosophical Quarterly)

promises to be the standard work on the philosophy of testimony and its applications for a good many years to come (Philosophy)

Biographie de l'auteur :

C. A. J. Coady is at University of Melbourne.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press, USA
• Date d'édition: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0198235518
• ISBN 13: 9780198235514
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 328