The Unity of Understanding

old_uid14814
titleThe Unity of Understanding
start_date2014/12/12
schedule11h30-13h
onlineno
summaryUnderstanding comes in a variety of forms. There is, for example, the practical understanding of the "doer", paradigmatically manifested in skilled activity, and the theoretical understanding of the "thinker", paradigmatically manifested in scientific advance. Are practical and theoretical understanding fundamentally different, or are they, at bottom, one and the same sort of thing? Philosophical theorizing has displayed a strong tendency towards the former approach. This talk, however, pursues the latter. After clarifying the relevant notion of unity and critically examining obstacles to unification, an argument for unification is given and an explanation of its truth is proposed. The argument and explanation highlight the notion of a conception and its epistemic significance.
responsiblesSchlenker