softwareNerd Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 Someone just informed me of a new book on Objectivist Epistemology.Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology Edited by Allan Gotthelf and James G. Lennox The descriptive blurb on Amazon says: The philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905–1982) is a cultural phenomenon. Her books have sold more than twenty-eight million copies, and countless individuals speak of her writings as having significantly influenced their lives. Despite her popularity, Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism has received little serious attention from academic philosophers. Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge offers scholarly analysis of key elements of Ayn Rand’s radically new approach to epistemology. The four essays, by contributors intimately familiar with this area of her work, discuss Rand’s theory of concepts—including its new account of abstraction and essence—and its central role in her epistemology; how that view leads to a distinctive conception of the justification of knowledge; her realist account of perceptual awareness and its role in the acquisition of knowledge; and finally, the implications of that theory for understanding the growth of scientific knowledge. The volume concludes with critical commentary on the essays by distinguished philosophers with differing philosophical viewpoints and the author’s responses to those commentaries. This is the second book published in Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies, which was developed in conjunction with the Ayn Rand Society to offer a fuller scholarly understanding of this highly original and influential thinker. The Ayn Rand Society, an affiliated group of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, seeks to foster scholarly study by philosophers of the philosophical thought and writings of Ayn Rand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 Wow, thanks! This looks great. I very much enjoyed the first Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dream_weaver Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 This is reformatted from The Ayn Rand Society Concepts and Their Role in Knowledge: Reflections on Objectivist Epistemology Allan Gotthelf, editor James G. Lennox associate editor Gregory Salmieri, consulting editor Pittsburgh University Press, 2012 CONTENTS Preface PART ONE Ayn Rand's Theory of Concepts: Rethinking Abstraction and Essence Allan Gotthelf Conceptualization and Justification Gregory Salmieri Perceptual Awareness as Presentational Onkar Ghate Concepts, Context, and the Advance of Science James G. Lennox PART TWO Concepts and Kinds Rand on Concepts, Definitions, and the Advance of Science: Comments on Gotthelf and Lennox Paul E. Griffiths Natural Kinds and Rand's Theory of Concepts: Reflections on Griffiths Onkar Ghate Definitions Rand on Definitions--"One Size Fits All"? Jim Bogen Taking the Measure of a Definition: Response to Bogen Allan Gotthelf Concepts and Theory Change On Concepts that Change with the Advance of Science Richard Burian Conceptual Development versus Conceptual Change:Response to Burian James G. Lennox Perceptual Awareness In Defense of the Theory of Appearing: Comments on Ghate and Salmieri Pierre LeMorvan Forms of Awareness and "Three-Factor" Theories Gregory Salmieri Direct Realism and Salmieri's "Forms of Awareness" Bill Brewer Keeping up Appearances: Reflections on the Debate Over Perceptual Infallibilism Benjamin Bayer Uniform Abbreviations of Works References List of Contributors Index Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 This book will be out in a few days. I just finished reading a pre-print version that Gotthelf let me read, and it is quite informative. The audience it is written for seems to be people familiar with perceptual psychology, cognitive development, philosophy in terms of perception, or Objectivist epistemology. So, it's not an easy read because of how abstract the topic is. Even still, the chapters on perceptual awareness were the most interesting to me, and there are good essays which fairly argue against the Objectivist-position/influenced essays (they pose questions that I thought about as well). Bottom line, the book is worth a read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thanks for the update. From what you say, it sounds like it is addressed to an academic audience rather than a lay audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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