A Modest Certainty

By (author) Frank D. Schubert

Not available to order

Publication date:

04 October 2012

Length of book:

420 pages

Publisher

UPA

ISBN-13: 9780761858980

The central problem of philosophy is the problem of certainty. What does it mean to be sure? Are there ideas beyond the possibility of error or refutation? What does it mean for a notion to be incorrigible? In this book, Frank D. Schubert squarely addresses the question of whether there is a single standard of certainty that can be applied to such disparate areas as logic, mathematics, politics, religion, familial/tribal commitments, and science. Schubert proposes a common standard for assessing certainty — the certainty of knowing one’s own personal proper name — as a standard that can establish common ground within each widely disparate area. The result is a new “philosophy in a grand manner” and a powerful ethical proposal for our time.