Understanding Empiricism (Understanding Movements in Modern Thought) [Hardcover]

Robert G. Meyers (Author)

Book Description

Series: Understanding Movements in Modern Thought | Publication Date: November 1, 2006

"Understanding Empiricism" is an introduction to empiricism and the empiricist tradition in philosophy. The book presents empiricism as a philosophical outlook that unites several philosophers and discusses the most important philosophical issues bearing on the subject, while maintaining enough distance from, say, the intricacies of Locke, Berkeley, Hume scholarship to allow students to gain a clear overview of empiricism without being lost in the details of the exegetical disputes surrounding particular philosophers. Written for students the book can serve both as an introduction to current problems in the theory of knowledge as well as a comprehensive survey of the history of empiricist ideas. The book begins by distinguishing between the epistemological and psychological/causal versions of empiricism, showing that it is the former that is of primary interest to philosophers. The next three chapters, on Locke, Berkeley, Hume respectively, provide an introduction to the main protagonists in the British empiricist tradition from this perspective. The book then examines more contemporary material including the ideas of Sellars, foundations and coherence theories, the rejection of the a priori by Mill, Peirce and Quine, scepticism and, finally, the status of religious belief within empiricism. Particular attention is paid to criticisms of empiricism, such as Leibniz's criticisms of Locke on innatism and Frege's objections to Mill on mathematics. The discussions are kept at an introductory level throughout to help students to locate the principles of empiricism in relation to modern philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I would definitely recommend this book to my undergraduate students. It will be a welcome addition to the introductory literature on empiricism, filling a gap between the books which are very heavy on Locke, Berkeley, Hume scholarship, and books that focus purely on contemporary epistemology." Graham Stevens, University of Manchester"

About the Author

Robert G. Meyers is Professor of Philosophy at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Mcgill Queens Univ Pr (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844650588
• ISBN-13: 978-1844650583
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,742,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empiricism redux, December 20, 2008

By 

Luca Graziuso (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Empiricism (Paperback)

The merits of this introduction outreach the scope of the labors. Robert Meyers' impassioned account of empiricism takes as a starting point the classic disputations of the three most widely regarded Empiricist of the 17th century to define a field that today seems to be blending with rationalism and scientific indulgence at a steady pace. The author is unruffled and undaunted by the metaphysical disguise that has bewildered many impostors of the theoretical claim that "knowledge is derivative of experience alone", and in choosing Berkley, Locke and Hume draws boundaries to survey a field in its inception free of the programmatic and foundational standards adopted today. In turns of wit, ironic flair and perverse clarity Dr Meyers deigns to discuss what seems to be devoid of any dogmatic intention with the prudence of a skeptic and the joy of a child amidst the wonder of it all. It is this unprecedented talent which ignites the series of essays herein divulged, for they move through a labyrinth of philosophical quandaries with the sensibility of a Socratic inspection and the sure footing of a sage.

In a succinct and lucid prose this work seeks to simplify how knowledge claims are validated, confirmed and supported by evidence, thereby assumed to be "real knowledge". Dr. Meyers informs from the onset that: "Real existence can be proved only by real existence, and our only evidence for this is experience, that is, external perception of things outside us, and internal perception of our own existence and the workings of our mind."

All the more here we find an uncompromising understanding that the theory of knowledge, if empirical through and through, must avoid any non-deductive inference and do away with any such notions of innate, intuitive, transcendental, or worst yet, divine prescriptions. It is with such facile disregard for the more cumbersome expositions forwarded by the likes of Carnap, Quine and Searle that this purview ranges the topic, entrusting its integrity with unburdened elucidations.
The philosophical clarity evinced in this gem is as sharp and clear as a diamond and cuts through most synthetic strains or systematic glosses while offering an overview of the debates of three thinkers who made epistemology a category free of matrices that rest on faith or mystical concepts.

Dr. Meyers is well aware that logical principles are universal principles that cannot be known by observation alone, a conundrum first introduced by Hume's vicious circle of "using induction to justify induction", yet he valiantly steers clear of such a vogue reluctant to experiment with critical junctures that smack of the pseudo-empiricist phenomenology of the day. Irrespective he does not ignore the difficulties inherent in the trade, and he is careful to give them due space without being reductive of its import. Understanding Empiricism is indelibly professed with semantic clarity, effortlessly argued with sustained attention to the paradoxes of naturalizing induction; furthermore Dr. Meyers avoids the pitfalls committed all too often by others who've introduced the topic only to impose a conceptual agenda by the by.

Humble, and inspiring, we have here a manual that refuses to integrate doxological views and opens a venue where philosophy may breathe free of the stench of less virtuous inquiries. For example when discussing the notion of a priori, the study delves into the subject without administering metaphorical persuasions. "The concept of necessity, possibility and impossibility are modal notions that are metaphysical concepts (since they describe kinds of truths), while the concept of analyticity is semantic (since it rests on the notion of meaning). The concept of a priori is epistemological. In its primary sense, it does not apply to propositions at all, but to how they are justified or known."

This brand of writing allows for the "introduction" to disentangle the impasses that are created by a school in decline, confused and too overcome with a sense of purpose. This elegant treatise is the best piece of writing to come out of the US since George Santayana. Here we find a modern day jester, merciless in his exposition, devoid of ornery opinions (à la Russell), fully engaged in a focused discussion on what is and not what might be, what ought to be, or how to be.

This title is so full of insights ranging from Hume's skepticism to Locke's critique of innate ideas, to Berkley's idealism, to Sellars' critique of foundationalism that it demands multiple readings, preferably savored alongside a glass of some good British port wine. Cheers.