Considered Judgment

(Paperback)

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Philosophy long sort 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. Foundationalism's heors continue their forbears' quest, seeking security against epistemic misfortune, while their detractors typically espouse coherentism or relativism. Catherine Elgin argues for a reconception that takes reflective equilibrium as the standard of rational acceptability. A system of thought in reflective equilibrium when its components are reasonable in light of antecedent convictions about the subject. 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.

Reviews

"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 Trade

Author Bio

Catherine Z. Elgin is Professor of the Philosophy of Education at Harvard University. Her books include With Reference to Reference and Between the Absolute and the Arbitrary. She coauthored Reconceptions in Philosophy and Other Arts and Sciences with Nelson Goodman.