Skip to content

Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge Hardcover - 2008

by Jennifer Lackey


From the publisher

Testimony is an invaluable source of knowledge. We rely on the reports of those around us for everything from the ingredients in our food and medicine to the identity of our family members. Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the epistemology of testimony. Despite the multitude of views offered, a single thesis is nearly universally accepted: testimonial knowledge is acquired through the process of transmission from speaker to hearer. In this book, Jennifer Lackey shows that this thesis is false and, hence, that the literature on testimony has been shaped at its core by a view that is fundamentally misguided. She then defends a detailed alternative to this conception of testimony: whereas the views currently dominant focus on the epistemic status of what speakers believe, Lackey advances a theory that instead centers on what speakers say. The upshot is that, strictly speaking, we do not learn from one another's beliefs -- we learn from one another's words. Once
this shift in focus is in place, Lackey goes on to argue that, though positive reasons are necessary for testimonial knowledge, testimony itself is an irreducible epistemic source. This leads to the development of a theory that gives proper credence to testimony's epistemologically dual nature: both the speaker and the hearer must make a positive epistemic contribution to testimonial knowledge. The resulting view not only reveals that testimony has the capacity to generate knowledge, but it also gives appropriate weight to our nature as both socially indebted and individually rational creatures. The
approach found in this book will, then, represent a radical departure from the views currently dominating the epistemology of testimony, and thus is intended to reshape our understanding of the deep and ubiquitous reliance we have on the testimony of those around us.

Details

  • Title Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
  • Author Jennifer Lackey
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 308
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher OUP UK, U.S.A
  • Date 2008-05-07
  • ISBN 9780199219162 / 0199219168
  • Weight 1.35 lbs (0.61 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 in (23.62 x 16.26 x 2.29 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Social epistemology
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007046141
  • Dewey Decimal Code 121.3

About the author


Jennifer Lackey is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

Learning from Words Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words Testimony as a Source of Knowledge

by Jennifer Lackey

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 13
9780199219162
ISBN 10
0199219168
Quantity Available
1
Seller
New Delhi, India
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$68.24
NZ$8.45 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New/New. Brand New Original US Edition, Perfect Condition. Printed in English. Excellent Quality, Service and customer satisfaction guaranteed!
Item Price
NZ$68.24
NZ$8.45 shipping to USA
Learning from Words
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words

by Jennifer Lackey

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780199219162
ISBN 10
0199219168
Quantity Available
4
Seller
Woodside, New York, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$91.89
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Oxford University Press OUP , pp. 308 . Hardback. New.
Item Price
NZ$91.89
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA
Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge

by Jennifer Lackey

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780199219162
ISBN 10
0199219168
Quantity Available
171
Seller
Uxbridge, Greater London, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$196.02
NZ$17.02 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Hard Cover. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; The Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge.
Item Price
NZ$196.02
NZ$17.02 shipping to USA
Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge

by Jennifer Lackey

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780199219162
ISBN 10
0199219168
Quantity Available
10
Seller
Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$201.18
NZ$21.20 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Hardback. New. Jennifer Lackey reshapes the vigorous current debate on testimony by showing that the standard view of the transmission of knowledge by testimony is fundamentally misguided. Her radical new theory holds that testimony is itself an irreducible source of new knowledge, to which both speaker and hearer contribute.
Item Price
NZ$201.18
NZ$21.20 shipping to USA
Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge

by Lackey, Jennifer

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780199219162
ISBN 10
0199219168
Quantity Available
5
Seller
campbelltown, Florida, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$266.89
NZ$25.34 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Oxford University Press. Hardcover. New. 9x6x1. Brand New Book in Publishers original Sealing
Item Price
NZ$266.89
NZ$25.34 shipping to USA