In this Book
- The Fourth Way: A Theory of Knowledge
- 1990
- Book
- Published by: Indiana University Press
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

summary
Reinhardt Grossmann holds that a realistic ontology in regard to perceptual, physical, and mathematical objects can be combined with an empiricistic theory of knowledge. In the first part of the book he shows that the traditional distinction between primary and secondary qualities leads to idealism, while the common Cartesian conception of knowledge by way of ideas leads to skepticism. In an effort to avoid these twin scourges of modem philosophy, the author argues for the existence of ordinary perceptual objects and explains how we know these objects directly through simple acts of perception. The second part of the book is concerned with the way in which we know what is in our minds. Grossmann maintains that this kind of knowledge is just as fallible as perception. In the third part the author concludes that logic, arithmetic, and set theory concern matters of fact and that we discover these facts through empirical knowledge.
Table of Contents
- Half Title Page
- pp. i-ii
- Title Page
- p. iii
- ONE: The Argument from Physics
- pp. 58-64
- TWO: The Argument from Hallucination
- pp. 65-71
- ONE: Experience versus Inspection
- pp. 91-101
- TWO: The Nature and Limits of Introspection
- pp. 102-111
- A. Historical Observations
- p. 128
- ONE: Kant’s Challenge
- pp. 129-147
- TWO: Bolzano’s Response: The Ontological Turn
- pp. 148-168
- THREE: Mill’s Response: Empiricism’s Last Stand
- pp. 169-191
- FOUR: Frege’s Response: The Zenith of Logicism
- pp. 192-224
- B. Systematic Considerations
- p. 225
- ONE: Introductory Remarks
- pp. 226-235
- TWO: The Argument from Causal Interaction
- pp. 236-250
- THREE: Mathematical Knowledge and Structure
- pp. 251-272
- FOUR: Mathematical Knowledge and Meaning
- pp. 273-298
- Bibliography
- pp. 299-303
- About the Author
- p. 312
Additional Information
ISBN
9780253055835
MARC Record
OCLC
1259584388
Launched on MUSE
2021-07-11
Language
English
Open Access
Yes