Considered Judgment (ebook)

Argumento de Considered Judgment (ebook)

Philosophy long sought to set knowledge on a firm foundation, through derivation of indubitable truths by infallible rules. For want of such truths and rules, the enterprise foundered. Nevertheless, foundationalism's heirs continue their forbears' quest, seeking security against epistemic misfortune, while their detractors typically espouse unbridled coherentism or facile relativism. Maintaining that neither stance is tenable, Catherine Elgin devises a via media between the absolute and the arbitrary, reconceiving the nature, goals, and methods of epistemology. In Considered Judgment, she argues for a reconception that takes reflective equilibrium as the standard of rational acceptability. A system of thought is in reflective equilibrium when its components are reasonable in light of one another, and the account they comprise is reasonable in light of our antecedent convictions about the subject it concerns.

Many epistemologists now concede that certainty is a chimerical goal. But they continue to accept the traditional conception of epistemology's problematic. Elgin suggests that in abandoning the quest for certainty we gain opportunities for a broader epistemological purview--one that comprehends the arts and does justice to the sciences. She contends that metaphor, fiction, emotion, and exemplification often advance understanding in science as well as in art. The range of epistemology is broader and more variegated than is usually recognized. Tenable systems of thought are neither absolute nor arbitrary. Although they afford no guarantees, they are good in the way of belief.

"Catherine Elgin writes clearly and engagingly. She is masterful in providing telling examples, pithy metaphors, and apt juxtapositions to make her points. I enjoyed and profited from reading Considered Judgment, and I think others both in and out of philosophy will too."--Robert Schwartz, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

"Considered Judgment contains a detailed defense of a sophisticated and novel view of basic epistemology as well as perceptive criticism of leading alternative views. Catherine Elgin's discussion of the epistemological significance of emotion, metaphor, and fiction will also interest many readers. The book contains a unique epistemological position that deserves serious consideration by specialists in the subject."--Bruce Aune, University of Massachusetts

"Elgin has managed an eloquent argument for a contextual epistemology that is relative and relational without being relativistic.... This work is likely to be widely read and debated. Her philosophical voice is an example of well-reasoned and eloquent debate."--Word Trade0Preface Ch. I Epistemology's End 3 Quarry 3 Perfect Procedural Epistemology 6 Imperfect Procedural Epistemology 10 Pure Procedural Epistemology 15 Approach 20 Ch. II The Failure of Foundationalism 21 Requirements 21 Blueprint 24 Strict Strictures 30 Lower Standards 35 Meaning 40 Causality 47 Subjunctive Support 51 Collapse 57 Ch. III Knowledge by Consensus 60 The Social Construction of Knowledge 60 Games People Play 61 Playing for Real 66 The Inquiry Game 70 Puzzle Solving 74 Widening the Field 79 Diverging Paths 84 Normalizing Relations 88 Does Charity End at Home? 91 Summing Up 93 What We Do 96 Two Concepts of Rules 98 Ch. IV The Merits of Equilibrium 101 Initial Tenability 101 Reflective Equilibrium 106 Going Public 111 Bootstrapping 120 Change in Focus: From Knowledge to Understanding 122 The Growth of Understanding 129 Judgment Calls 134 Deeper Conflicts 138 Restrictions on Relativism 143 Ch. V The Heart Has Its Reasons 146 Feelings 147 Frames of Mind 149 Tenability 156 Emotional Honesty 159 Classification 161 Emotion and the Range of Epistemology 167 Ch. VI Shifting Focus 170 Telling Instances 171 Learning from Examples 178 Fiction in Fact 183 Fiction's Feedback 186 What We Learn about What We Know 189 Getting Perspective 192 Tenable Fictions 195 Figurative Functions 196 Reconfiguration 200 Summing Up 204 Ch. VII Epistemic Interdependence 205 Verstehen 205 Language 208 Indeterminacy 214 Index 221