The Failure of Philosophical Knowledge: Why Philosophers are not Entitled to their Beliefs

— —

János Tozsér (Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary)

The Failure of Philosophical Knowledge

Why Philosophers are not Entitled to their Beliefs

János Tozsér (Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary)

$59.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Bloomsbury Academic
26 December 2024

Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge; Ethics & moral philosophy

Philosophy begins and ends in disagreement. Philosophers disagree among themselves in innumerable ways, and this pervasive and permanent dissent is a sign of their inability to solve philosophical problems and present well-established substantive truths.

This raises the question: “What should we do with our philosophical beliefs in light of philosophy’s epistemic failure?” In this open access book, János Tozsér analyzes the possible answers to this question, develops them into comprehensive metaphilosophical visions, and argues that we cannot commit ourselves to any of them in peace, with a clear intellectual conscience, and without self-deception.

Tozsér calls this disheartening insight “the experience of breakdown,” claiming that no matter how we struggle, we are unable to create substantive philosophical knowledge that goes beyond the cost-benefit analysis of philosophical theories. He makes the case that, at the same time, we cannot suspend all of our beliefs about the most fundamental facts of our world once and for all, and so forever give up on seeking substantive philosophical truths.

The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary.

By: János Tozsér (Research Centre for the Humanities Hungary)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350340084
ISBN 10: 1350340081
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 26 December 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements Introduction Part I 1. Philosophy as an Epistemic Enterprise 2. Philosophy as a Failed Epistemic Enterprise Part II 3. Therapy for Philosophers 4. Philosophy with (Intended-To-Be) Compelling Justification 5. Philosophy without Compelling Justification 6. Meta-skepticism Part III 7. Breakdown Bibliography Index

János Tozsér is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary.

Reviews for The Failure of Philosophical Knowledge: Why Philosophers are not Entitled to their Beliefs

"""A challenging and delightfully argued work of metaphilosophy - one that is not only astute on the details of particular contemporary arguments but reflects a depth of understanding of philosophy's history."" --Scott Aikin, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University, USA ""János Tozsér offers an uncompromisingly honest assessment of whether philosophy achieves its own stated goals, and answers with an emphatic NO. I won't give up philosophy after reading the book, and I hope neither will Tozsér, but I will have to rethink what I do when I do philosophy."" --Katalin Farkas, Professor of Philosophy, Central European University, Austria"