Knowledge in a Social World by Alvin I. Goldman

Product Description

Knowledge in a Social World offers a philosophy for the information age. Alvin Goldman explores new frontiers by creating a thoroughgoing social epistemology, moving beyond the traditional focus on solitary knowers. Against the tides of postmodernism and social constructionism Goldman defends
the integrity of truth and shows how to promote it by well-designed forms of social interaction. From science to education, from law to democracy, he shows why and how public institutions should seek knowledge-enhancing practices. The result is a bold, timely, and systematic treatment of the
philosophical foundations of an information society.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #421248 in Books
Published on: 1999-03-25
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
424 pages
Editorial Reviews

Review
`Once again, Goldman has done a huge job in collecting relevant information for his evaluative enterprise. ... Its lucid style makes it accessible to people without philosophical education.' Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 79, no. 3

`interesting and insightful ... offers a rich supply of insights into the veritistic properties of society.' Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 79, no. 3

`well constructed and well written ... The topic is worthy of attention and the ideas are provocative ... Goldman does raise interesting questions for assessing quality and utility in an era of information overload.' Deborah Barreau, Jnl. Americ. Soc. for Inf. Science and Tech., 01/01/01.

`one of the most recent contributions to the field, and a very welcome one too.' Luciano Floridi, TLS, 28 Jan 2000.

`An important work of monumental scope. Its central concern is the ways in which social practices and familiar institutions contribute to and undermine the pursuit of knowledge. To that extent it reveals a sensitivity to the animating, if ultimately misdirected and misleading, insight of the postmodernists that we are socially situated beings; at the same time it brilliantly defends the idea that this fact about our situatedness does nothing to undermine the possibility of truth and objective knowlegde. This is a book of singular importance to lawyers, political theorists, social and natural scientists as well as to educators and theorists of education. It is a major contribution to all these fields and not just because of its insights into them, but for its accessibility to intelligent practitioners as well. It may well be the most significant interdisciplinary philosophy book of the decade.' Jules Coleman, Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School

`"Alvin Goldman's Knowledge in a Social World belongs to a sparse tradition in epistemology given to the epistemic evaluation of social institutions. Landmarks in this tradition include Bacon's The Advancement of Learning, Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education, and Dewey's Social Inquiry. Goldman's book is the equal of these influential volumes in breadth of vision, mastery of relevant contemporary thought, and practical utility, and surpasses them in theoretical depth. It is a work crafted with supreme philosophical skill.' Frederick Schmitt, Professor of Philosophy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

`Alvin Goldman, the premier epistemologist of the past two decades, has written a pioneering book that will define the field of social epistemology. Scholars will learn from his judicious and lucid proposals, and they will be wrestling for years with the exciting and important problems he raises.' Philip Kitcher, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York

Card catalog description
Knowledge in a Social World offers a philosophy for the information age. Alvin Goldman explores new frontiers by creating a thoroughgoing social epistemology, moving beyond the traditional focus on solitary knowers. Social, cultural, and technological changes present new challenges to our ways of knowing and understanding, and philosophy must face these challenges. Against the tides of postmodernism and social constructionism Goldman defends the integrity of truth and shows how to promote it by well-designed forms of social interaction. He urges that social discourse promises more than the mere politics of consensus, and that suitably norm-governed debate and belief-revision can increase veridical knowledge.

About the Author
Alvin I. Goldman is one of the world's foremost epistemologists; he is Regents Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona, and a Past President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association.
Customer Reviews

Review of Alvin I. Goldman, Knowledge in a Social World
In his earlier book Epistemology and Cognition (Harvard University Press, 1986), Alvin I. Goldman sketched a distinction between individual and social epistemology, offered his own account of the former, and promised a sequel devoted to the latter. Knowledge in a Social World is that sequel, and offers a systematic treatment of social epistemology. It is original not only in substance but in conception, opening up whole new avenues of epistemological investigation. As Goldman treats it, social epistemology "is linked to those social science and policy disciplines that study knowledge in its social and institutional contexts." (ix) His aim is to offer a social theory of knowledge, which takes full account of "the interpersonal and institutional contexts in which most knowledge endeavors are actually undertaken" (vii); and, in light of the fact that "social practices can make both positive and negative contributions to knowledge," aims "to show just which social practices, under what conditions, will promote knowledge rather than subvert it." (viii) The book is a tour de force: wide-ranging, ambitious and challenging. It is engagingly written: non-technical, exceedingly clear, and witty. It treats a wide range of social domains and practices, including science, education, law, testimony, and argumentation. It uses examples deftly and tellingly; its arguments are consistently powerful. One couldn't ask for a better demonstration of the relevance of epistemology to a broad range of social and policy issues. Those who disagree with Goldman's conclusions, and his recommendations for truth-enhancing practices, will have to confront this book. It is a must-read for scholars from the gamut of disciplines that treat the issues it addresses, and to the intelligent non-specialist as well.

Academic Epistemology Meets Real World Social Issues
In this path-breaking book, Alvin Goldman brings academic epistemology to bear on important real world issues in information technology, the media, science, law, politics, and education. The motivating idea of the book is simple: Knowledge (in the weak sense of true belief) is important. Social institutions and practices can and should be evaluated on how well or how poorly they contribute to true belief. Taken as a whole, this book is one of the most effective explanations in the philosophical literature of why truth matters, both theoretically and in practice. This book is not for everyone. Its careful attention to evidence and its sustained philosophical argument demand the full attention of the reader. But unlike many other types of academic philosophy, here the evidence and argument are brought to bear on fascinating real world issues, including policies for freedom of speech, publishing on the World Wide Web, the adversary system of justice, political campaign fundraising, and proposals for curricular change in education. The depth and breadth of Goldman's knowledge on the variety of issues that he discusses is remarkable. In addition to presenting and defending Goldman's own well-thought-out positions on the issues, the book as a whole provides a powerful philosophical response of the theoretical excesses of deconstructionists, postmodernists, social constructionists and extreme pragmatists on these issues. My one reservation about the book is that, for a book in social epistemology, it sometimes tends to be overly individualistic. For example, Goldman's discussion of the jury system pays more attention to the evidence on the cognitive limitations of individuals than to the evidence of how juries as a group are often able to compensate for those individual cognitive limitations. But this is only a matter of emphasis. In his discussion of other examples (e.g., the scientific community), Goldman does highlight ways that the group can correct for individual cognitive limitations. If you identify academic epistemology with the intellectual project of conceptual analysis-for example, the attempt to discover necessary and sufficient conditions for knowledge-you should read this book. Goldman shows how epistemology can be much more relevant to real world social issues than you might ever have imagined.

Philosopher King-Sized Social Epistemology
I must agree with the review that appeared this week in the TLS (Times Literary Supplement, London, 27.01.00), which managed to describe the book without talking about the social character of knowledge - except to say that Goldman has a 'dirigiste' view of how knowledge should be controlled and communicated in society. His own euphemism is 'epistemic paternalism', and readers might want to judge for themselves what it all means, once the dogmatic philosophising and gratuitous formalising is removed. This reader found the implications rather scarey, though luckily this philosophical stuff rarely gets beyond the seminar room. A definite step from back (and away) from Fuller's work on social epistemology - and even more conservative types like Kitcher and Longino.