Epistemic Logic: A Survey of the Logic of Knowledge
by Nicholas Rescher
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005 Cloth: 978-0-8229-4246-7 | Paper: 978-0-8229-6130-7 | eISBN: 978-0-8229-7092-7 Library of Congress Classification BC21.E64R47 2005 Dewey Decimal Classification 160
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Epistemic logic is the branch of philosophical thought that seeks to formalize the discourse about knowledge. Its object is to articulate and clarify the general principles of reasoning about claims to and attributions of knowledge. This comprehensive survey of the topic offers the first systematic account of the subject as it has developed in the journal literature over recent decades.
Rescher gives an overview of the discipline by setting out the general principles for reasoning about such matters as propositional knowledge and interrogative knowledge. Aimed at graduate students and specialists, Epistemic Logic elucidates both Rescher's pragmatic view of knowledge and the field in general.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nicholas Rescher is Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and co-chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has served as president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, the Leibniz Society of North America, the Charles S. Peirce Society, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the Metaphysical Society of America. Rescher is the author or editor of more than one hundred books, including Ignorance (On the Wider Implications of Deficient Knowledge), Philosophical Inquiries: An Introduction to Problems of Philosophy, and A Journey through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes.
REVIEWS
”’Epistemic Logic’ is the shining star of Rescher’s provocative trilogy on realism, knowledge, and our cognitive imitations. EL is a unique and crucial addition to the literature in formal epistemology because it locates the debate over the knowability principle within an overall system of the logic of knowledge.” —Mind
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<p. v, no folio>
<p. vi continued or blank>
Contents
Preface 000
1. Setting the Stage 000
2. Basic Principles 000
3. Deductivity and Knowledge Ampliation 000
4. Metaknowledge 000
5. For Aught That Someone Knows 000
6. Group Knowledge 000
7. Propositional versus Interrogative Knowledge 000
8. Collective versus Distributive Knowledge and Knower Limitedness 000
9. Modality 000
10. Problems of Epistemic Democracy 000
11. Possibility and Conceivability 000
12. Unknowability 000
13. Fitch's Theorem and Its Consequences 000
14. Finite and Infinite Knowers 000
15. Vagrant Predicates and Noninstantiability 000
16. Unanswerable Questions and Insolubilia 000
17. Unknowable Truth 000
18. Implications of Cognitive Limitation 000
Appendix 1: A Survey of Thesis Acceptability 000
Appendix 2: On Quantifying Knowledge (and the Gulf Between Linguistic Truth and Objective Fact) 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Epistemic Logic: A Survey of the Logic of Knowledge
by Nicholas Rescher
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005 Cloth: 978-0-8229-4246-7 Paper: 978-0-8229-6130-7 eISBN: 978-0-8229-7092-7
Epistemic logic is the branch of philosophical thought that seeks to formalize the discourse about knowledge. Its object is to articulate and clarify the general principles of reasoning about claims to and attributions of knowledge. This comprehensive survey of the topic offers the first systematic account of the subject as it has developed in the journal literature over recent decades.
Rescher gives an overview of the discipline by setting out the general principles for reasoning about such matters as propositional knowledge and interrogative knowledge. Aimed at graduate students and specialists, Epistemic Logic elucidates both Rescher's pragmatic view of knowledge and the field in general.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nicholas Rescher is Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and co-chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has served as president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, the Leibniz Society of North America, the Charles S. Peirce Society, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the Metaphysical Society of America. Rescher is the author or editor of more than one hundred books, including Ignorance (On the Wider Implications of Deficient Knowledge), Philosophical Inquiries: An Introduction to Problems of Philosophy, and A Journey through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes.
REVIEWS
”’Epistemic Logic’ is the shining star of Rescher’s provocative trilogy on realism, knowledge, and our cognitive imitations. EL is a unique and crucial addition to the literature in formal epistemology because it locates the debate over the knowability principle within an overall system of the logic of knowledge.” —Mind
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<p. v, no folio>
<p. vi continued or blank>
Contents
Preface 000
1. Setting the Stage 000
2. Basic Principles 000
3. Deductivity and Knowledge Ampliation 000
4. Metaknowledge 000
5. For Aught That Someone Knows 000
6. Group Knowledge 000
7. Propositional versus Interrogative Knowledge 000
8. Collective versus Distributive Knowledge and Knower Limitedness 000
9. Modality 000
10. Problems of Epistemic Democracy 000
11. Possibility and Conceivability 000
12. Unknowability 000
13. Fitch's Theorem and Its Consequences 000
14. Finite and Infinite Knowers 000
15. Vagrant Predicates and Noninstantiability 000
16. Unanswerable Questions and Insolubilia 000
17. Unknowable Truth 000
18. Implications of Cognitive Limitation 000
Appendix 1: A Survey of Thesis Acceptability 000
Appendix 2: On Quantifying Knowledge (and the Gulf Between Linguistic Truth and Objective Fact) 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE