Rational choice is not between science and common sense; it is a choice of both, of science to master the universal, and of common sense to deal with the particular. -Bernard Lonergan
Part I in this series of posts can be found here. Methodological and epistemological claims Ladyman and Ross make two claims, one meta-methodological and one epistemological, that serve to reinforce their naturalism as well as further the case against the domestication of science. First, the meta-methodological claim is their attempt to address the demarcation between … Continue reading The argument of Every Thing Must Go (Part II)
The purpose of my dissertation is to enter Bernard Lonergan's work on cognitional theory, epistemology, and metaphysics into the contemporary debate concerning scientism. For this, there is no better pair of interlocutors than James Ladyman and Don Ross and their work Every Thing Must Go. In this and subsequent posts, I'll present my summary and … Continue reading The argument of Every Thing Must Go (Part I)
David Hume This post follows upon this post. Hume's approach to philosophy was both more commonsensical than Descartes' and less physicalist than Hobbes'. Much like Descartes', Hume's philosophy begins with questions of cognition rather than being. An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding was written primarily as a scrutiny of the operations of the mind. This endeavor … Continue reading David Hume’s test of the Cartesian epistemological framework
Thomas Hobbes This post will make more sense if the reader reads this first. Empiricist epistemology Thomas Hobbes began several major works of political philosophy by first discussing the nature of sensation and its underlying significance for understanding political matters. Similarly, David Hume's An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is simply that, an investigation of human … Continue reading Empiricist epistemology – Thomas Hobbes
From: http://www.unk.com/blog/the-hypnotic-art-of-confusion/ Through the epistemological turn, Descartes’ philosophical framework – his foundationalism, methodology, and philosophical assumptions – continues to influence and shape the contemporary philosophy of science. Cartesian epistemology is best known for its method of universal doubt. Dissatisfied with his own education, as well as with the state of academic and philosophical debate, Descartes … Continue reading Cartesian epistemological method
Rene Descartes Traditional epistemology Epistemology is the area of philosophy that seeks to answer questions about our knowing, how that knowing is justified, and how grounds for justification are established. Epistemological naturalists often use the phrase traditional epistemology to describe the Cartesian tradition of philosophical inquiry, which began by asking epistemological questions prior to any … Continue reading Descartes and the epistemological turn
David Hume's problem of induction makes for an interesting case study in which to see the division between intellectualism and conceptualism play out. Below I state what Hume takes the problem to be. Elsewhere, I discuss Popper's conceptualist treatment of Hume's problem. The problem stated In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume examines the sources … Continue reading Hume’s problem of induction
I have struggled for some time to find the thread that connects a number of divisions that I've brought up on this blog. For example, there is the division of the context of discovery from the context of justification. This anti-psychologistic position originates with Frege and is carried forward by Wittgenstein, the logical positivists, and … Continue reading Intellectualism or Conceptualism?
Lonergan has shown us five features of an insight. The release of the tension of inquiryIts sudden and unexpected characterIts resulting from inner rather than outer conditionsThat it pivots between the concrete and abstractThat each new insight eventually becomes habitual Additionally, he has shown us how the various elements of an insight relate, resulting in … Continue reading Insight as mathematical development
This post completes a series of posts in on the nature and moments of insight. Nominal and explanatory definition Lonergan's sixth observation concerns different kinds of definition. To begin with, he has nominal and explanatory definition in mind. As Euclid defined a straight line as a line lying evenly between its extremes, so he might … Continue reading Insight: Definitions and primitive terms
Dissertating Outloud 