An Essay on Belief and Acceptance [Paperback]

L. Jonathan Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1995

In this incisive new book one of Britain's most eminent philosophers explores the often-overlooked tension between voluntariness and involuntariness in human cognition. He seeks to counter the widespread tendency for analytic epistemology to be dominated by the concept of belief. Is scientific knowledge properly conceived as being embodied, at its best, in a passive feeling of belief or in an active policy of acceptance? Should a jury's verdict declare what its members involuntarily believe or what they voluntarily accept? And should statements and assertions be presumed to express what their authors believe or what they accept? Does such a distinction between belief and acceptance help to resolve the paradoxes of self-deception and akrasia? Must people be taken to believe everything entailed by what they believe, or merely to accept everything entailed by what they accept? Through a systematic examination of these problems, the author sheds new light on issues of crucial importance in contemporary epistemology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An important, wide-ranging, and remarkably accessible book; highly recommended for all academic libraries."--Choice

About the Author

L. Jonathan Cohen, Emeritus Fellow, The Queen's College, Oxford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198236042
• ISBN-13: 978-0198236047
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,661,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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