Harvey Lederman – The Introspective Model of Genuine Knowledge and the Unity of Knowledge and Action

McGill Colloquium Talk

Harvey Lederman, Princeton University

Topic: “The Introspective Model of Genuine Knowledge and the Unity of Knowledge and Action.”

Time: November  27, 2020 3:30 PM Montreal

Harvey Lederman (Princeton) will give a McGill Philosophy Department Colloquium Talk, by Zoom, Friday November 27 from 3:30 to 5:00pm, on “The Introspective Model of Genuine Knowledge and the Unity of Knowledge and Action.” He is not asking us to read anything beforehand, but he has sent us a copy of his paper if anyone would like to read it before the talk.

    Professor Lederman sends us this abstract: “In this talk I will present a new interpretation of the great Ming dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming’s (1472-1529) doctrine of the ‘unity of knowledge and action’ (知行合㆒). Wang held that action was not unified with all knowledge, but only with an elevated form of knowledge, which he sometimes called ‘genuine knowledge’. My interpretation focuses on a new understanding of this notion, according to which a person has genuine knowledge if and only if they are free from a particular form of doxastic conflict. I argue that Wang believed that a person is free from this form of doxastic conflict if and only if they are free from a form of motivational conflict. I suggest that Wang held moreover that a person is free from this form of motivational conflict if and only if they are acting virtuously. Thus, my interpretation helps to explain how Wang could hold that a person has genuine knowledge if and only if they are acting virtuously.”

Join Zoom Meeting

https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/88903585909?pwd=QWFta3UzQkVKZHhKQTU5bTVCNFk5dz09

Passcode:  Email pina.giobbi@mcgill.ca for the passcode prior to logging in to Zoom mtg

Meeting ID: 889 0358 5909

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