Overview

This novel approach to epistemological discourse explains the complex but crucial role that systematization plays-not just for the organization of what we know, but also for its validation. Cognitive Harmony argues for a new conception of the process philosophers generally call induction. Relying on the root definition of harmony, a coherent unification of component parts (systemic integrity) in such a way that the final object can successfully accomplish what it was meant to do (evaluative positivity), Rescher discusses the role of harmony in cognitive contexts, the history of cognitive harmony, and the various features it has in producing human knowledge. The book ends on the issue of philosophy and the sort of harmony required of philosophical systems.

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9780822942436

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Reviews

Rescher's new trilogy is not only informative, and elegantly crisp about the core problems of epistemic harmony, epistemic logic, and the thrust of pragmatic epistemology, it is systematically impressive and convincing on the basic positions advanced. - Robert Almeder, Georgia State University; These books are welcome and important additions to an already impressive body of work. - Ernest Sosa, Brown University

"Rescher's new trilogy is not only informative, and elegantly crisp about the core problems of epistemic harmony, epistemic logic, and the thrust of pragmatic epistemology, it is systematically impressive and convincing on the basic positions advanced. - Robert Almeder, Georgia State University; """"These books are welcome and important additions to an already impressive body of work."""" - Ernest Sosa, Brown University"

Author Information

Nicholas Rescher was 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 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 was 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.

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