There is only “Philosophy”: The case of testimony

Elisa Freschi

doi:10.13135/1825-263X/2241

Authors

Elisa Freschi Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Vienna

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/2241

Keywords:

intercultural philosophy, philosophy of language, epistemology, epistemology of testimony, Mīmāṃsā, Kumārila, Prabhākara, Nyāya, Buddhist epistemology, Vaiśeṣika

Abstract

The present introduction summarises the debate on the epistemological value of testimony, with a special focus on the reductionism vs. antireductionism polemics, and situates Indian philosophers within it. One thus sees that some Indian philosophical schools (especially Vaiśeṣika and Buddhist epistemology) attempted to reduce testimony to another, more fundamental, instrument of knowledge, typically to inference, whereas others (especially Mīmāṃṣā and Nyāya) emphasised the independent nature of testimony. The study then moves to the problem of the criteria for a reliable speaker and discusses border-line cases, such as that of speaking instruments (computers, clocks and the like). Finally, it looks at some promising and open-ended topics evoked by the Indian-European dialogue on testimony.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Elisa Freschi, Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Vienna

Elisa Freschi (University of Vienna and Austrian Academy of Sciences) studied South Asian studies and Philosophy. She works on Indian Philosophy (especially Mīmāṃsā and Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta) and on comparative philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, deontic logic and on the re-use of texts. She is a convinced upholder of reading Sanskrit philosophical texts within their history and understanding them through a philosophical approach. Among her publications: Duty, language and exegesis in Prābhākara Mīmāṃsā (2012), Rule-extension strategies: Ritual, exegetical and linguistic considerations on the tantra- and prasaṅga-principles (2013), The reuse of texts in Indian philosophy (2015, ed.) and Adaptive Reuse: Aspects of Creativity in South Asian Cultural History (2017, edited with Philipp A. Maas).

References

Arnold, Dan. 2001. “Intrinsic Validity Reconsidered: A Sympathetic Study of the Mīmāṃsaka Inversion of Buddhist Epistemology”. Journal of Indian Philosophy 29.5-6: 589-675.

Arnold, Dan. 2005. Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion. New York: Columbia University Press.

Bhushan, Nalini and Jay Garfield, eds. 2011. Indian Philosophy in English: From Renaissance to Independence. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bocheński, Józef Maria. 1974. Was ist Autorität? Freiburg, Basel, Wien: Herder.

Böhm, Jan M. 2006. Kritische Rationalität und Verstehen: Beiträge zu einer naturalistischen Hermeneutik. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Brito, Patrick Roger Michel Almeida de. 2012. “A epistemologia do testemunho: visão reducionista”. PhD Diss., Porto Alegre: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do sul Departamento de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia.

Burge, Tyler. 1993. “Content Preservation.” The Philosophical Review 102: 457-488.

Coady, Cecil Anthony John. 1992. Testimony: a philosophical study. Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press and Oxford University Press.

Dasti, Matthew. 2008. “Testimony, Belief Transfer, and Causal Irrelevance: Reflections from India’s Nyāya School.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 25.4: 281–299.

Dummett, Michael. 1994. “Testimony and Memory”. In Knowing from words: Western and Indian philosophical analysis of understanding and testimony, edited by Bimal Krishna Matilal and Arindam Chakrabarti, 251–272. Synthese Library 230. Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic.

Eltschinger, Vincent. 2013. “Turning hermeneutics into apologetics — Reasoning and rationality under changing historical circumstances.” In Scriptural Authority, Reason and Action, edited by Vincent Eltschinger and Helmut Krasser, 71–145. Beiträge zur Kultur und Geistesgeschichte Asiens 79. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Franco, Eli. 1997. Dharmakīrti on Compassion and Rebirth. Wien: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien.

Freschi, Elisa and Alessandro Graheli. 2005. “Bhāṭṭamīmāṃsā and Nyāya on Veda and Tradition.” In Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia, edited by Federico Squarcini, 287–323. Kykéion Studies and Texts I.3. Firenze and New Delhi: Firenze University Press and Munshiram Manoharlal.

Freschi, Elisa and Malcolm Keating. 2017. “How do we gather knowledge through language?” Journal of World Philosophy 2.

Fricker, Elizabeth. 1982. “Semantic Structure and Speakers’ Understanding”. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 83: 49–66.

Fricker, Elizabeth. 1986. “Knowledge and Language”. PhD Diss., University of Oxford.

Fricker, Elizabeth. 1994. “Against Gullibility.” In Knowing from words: Western and Indian philosophical analysis of understanding and testimony, edited by Bimal Krishna Matilal and Arindam Chakrabarti, 125–161. Synthese Library 230. Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Fricker, Elizabeth and David E. Cooper. 1987. “The Epistemology of Testimony.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes 61: 57–106.

Gelfert, Axel. 2010. “Hume on Testimony Revisited”. In Logical Analysis and History of Philosophy 13: 60-75.

Goldberg, Sanford C. 2013. “Anonymous Assertions.” Episteme 10.2: 135-151.

Hardwig, John. 1991. “The Role of Trust in Knowledge.” The Journal of Philosophy 88: 693-708.

Hume, David. 1977. An enquiry concerning human understanding: A letter from a gentleman to his friend in Edinburgh. Edited by Eric Steinberg. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.

Kornblith, Hilary. 2014. “Is There Room For Armchair Theorizing in Epistemology?” In Philosophical Methodology: The Armchair Or the Laboratory?, edited by Matthew Haug, 195-216. London: New York: Routledge.

Krasser, Helmut. 2012. “Logic in a Religious Context: Dharmakīrti in Defence of āgama.” In Can the Veda Speak? Dharmakīrti against Mīmāṃsā exegetics and Vedic authority. An Annotated translation of PVSV 164,24-176,16, edited by Vincent Eltschinger, Helmut Krasser and John Taber, 83–118. Beiträge zur Kultur und Geistesgeschichte Asiens 74. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Lackey, Jennifer. 1999. “Testimonial Knowledge and Transmission.” The Philosophical Quarterly 49: 471–490.

Lackey, Jennifer. 2008. Learning from words: testimony as a source of knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lackey, Jennifer. 2009. “Knowledge and Credit.” Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 142.1: 27–42.

Matilal, Bimal Krishna and Arindam Chakrabarti, eds. 1994. Knowing from words: Western and Indian philosophical analysis of understanding and testimony. Synthese Library 230. Dordrechts; Boston: Kluwer Academic.

Matilal, Bimal Krishna and Jaysankar Lal Shaw, eds. 1985. Analytical philosophy in comparative perspective: exploratory essays in current theories and classical Indian theories of meaning and reference. Dordrecht, Boston and Hingham, MA: D. Reidel Pub. Co. and Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Origgi, Gloria. 2007. “Le sens des autres. L’ontogenèse de la confiance.” Raisons Pratiques 17: 121-138.

Reid, Thomas. 1997. An inquiry into the human mind on the principles of common sense, a critical edition. Edited by Derek R. Brookes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Ross, Angus. 1986. “Why Do We Believe What We Are Told?” Ratio 28: 69-88.

Schindler-Wunderlich, Thomas. 2008. Kritik der neuzeitlichen Wunderkritik: eine religionsphilosophische Studie. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Siderits, Mark. 1998. “Review of: Epistemology, Meaning and Metaphysics after Matilal, edited by Arindam Chakrabarti.” Philosophy East and West 48.3: 503–513.

Taber, John. 1996. “Is verbal testimony a form of inference?” In Epistemology, Meaning and Metaphysics after Matilal, edited by Arindam Chakrabarti, 19–31. Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Webb, Mark Owen. 1993. “Why I Know About As Much As You: A Reply to Hardwig.” The Journal of Philosophy 90: 260-270.

Welbourne, Michael. 1979. “The Transmission of Knowledge.” The Philosophical Quarterly 29: 1-9.

There is only “Philosophy”: The case of testimony

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

Downloads

Author Biography

Elisa Freschi, Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Vienna

References

Downloads

Published

Issue

Section

License