Coherentism

Coherentism by Erik J Olsson

Perhaps the most fundamental question of epistemology asks on what grounds our knowledge of the world ultimately rests. The traditional Cartesian answer is that it rests on indubitable facts arrived at through rational insight or introspection. Coherentists reject this answer, claiming instead that knowledge arises from relations of coherence or mutual support: if our beliefs cohere, we can be sure that they are mostly true. The first part of this Element introduces the reader to the main ideas and problems of coherentism. The next part describes the 'probabilistic turn', leading up to recent demonstrations that coherence fails to be conducive to truth. The final part reassesses the current debate about the proper definition of coherence from the standpoint of Rudolf Carnap's methodology of explication. The upshot is a tentative and qualified defence of one of the early coherence measures.

Erik J. Olsson is Professor and Chair in Theoretical Philosophy at Lund University, Sweden

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781009055123
ISBN 10	1009055127
Title	Coherentism
Author	Erik J Olsson
Series	Elements In Epistemology
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2022-09-08
Number of pages	75
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable