Intellectual Trust in Oneself and Others

by Richard Foley

Overview

To what degree should we rely on our own resources and methods to form opinions about important matters? To what degree should we depend on various authorities, such as a recognized expert or a social tradition? In this novel and provocative account of intellectual trust and authority, Richard Foley argues that it can be reasonable to have intellectual trust in oneself even though it is not possible to provide a defense of the reliability of one's faculties, methods, and opinions that does not beg the question.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521793087
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/13/2001
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Philosophy
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)
Lexile:	1540L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Part I. Intellectual Trust in Oneself: 1. The importance of intellectual self-trust; 2. Intellectual self-trust, rational belief and invulnerability to self-criticism; 3. Empirical challenges to self-trust; Part II. Intellectual Trust in Others and in One's Own Future and Past Self: 4. Self-trust and the authority of others; 5. Past opinion and current opinion; 6. Future opinion and current opinion; Conclusion; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Foley's book is an admirable and important treatment of a topic that, as a result, has gotten far less attention that it deserves." Philosophy in Review

"...[This book] makes a real contribution to the normative theory of reliance on testimony." Ethics

"Intellectual Trust in Oneself and Others is a fine example of how an approach that is broadly meta-epistemological in spirit can lead to a fresh perspective on a number of core issues in epistemology. Amongst the topics discussed by Foley are such classics as the origins of scepticism, the nature of epistemic rationality and justification, the principles underlying belief revision, and the epistemology of testimony."
Axel Gelfert, University of Cambridge, Logical Analysis and History of Philosophy

From the Publisher