Skip to Main Content

Fear of Knowledge: Against Relativism and Constructivism

Online ISBN:
9780191713569
Print ISBN:
9780199287185
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Fear of Knowledge: Against Relativism and Constructivism

Paul Boghossian
Paul Boghossian
New York University
Find on
Published online:
1 May 2010
Published in print:
23 February 2006
Online ISBN:
9780191713569
Print ISBN:
9780199287185
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Relativist and constructivist conceptions of knowledge have become orthodoxy in vast stretches of the academic world in recent times. This book critically examines such views and argues that they are fundamentally flawed. The book focuses on three different ways of reading the claim that knowledge is socially constructed, one about facts and two about justification. All three are rejected. The intuitive, common sense view is that there is a way things are that is independent of human opinion, and that we are capable of arriving at belief about how things are that is objectively reasonable, and is binding on anyone capable of appreciating the relevant evidence, regardless of their social or cultural perspective. Difficult as these notions may be, it is a mistake to think that recent philosophy has uncovered powerful reasons for rejecting them.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close