Thinking With Assent

Epistemology is currently in ferment. Ever since Plato, the textbook story goes, knowledge has been conceived as justified true belief; but in 1963 Edmund Gettier blew a huge hole in this supposedly traditional account. Six decades later, however, ongoing attempts to identify the conditions which turn belief into knowledge continue to face counterexamples and charges of circularity. In response to this recurrent failure, leading philosophers have begun exploring alternative accounts of knowledge. This ground-breaking book pushes the revolt against post-Gettier epistemology in a radically new direction. It begins by challenging the crude history of philosophy underling the entire Gettier paradigm. A survey ranging from the pre-Socratics to the mid-twentieth century reveals that the allegedly 'standard' or 'traditional' analysis of knowledge is neither standard nor traditional. In fact, it is difficult to find major philosophers for thousands of years who regarded knowledge as a species of belief, or belief as entailed by knowledge. The standard view was rather that knowing and believing are distinct, mutually exclusive mental states, involving different mental faculties, and playing distinct and complementary roles in our cognitive lives. Having demolished the historical premise upon which the entire Gettier paradigm rests, this book reframes elements of this age-old consensus in contemporary terms which push 'knowledge first' epistemology in a fresh direction. Knowledge, Antognazza argues, is phenomenologically and ontologically prior to belief, and, crucially, is not a kind of belief - not even “the best kind”. In turn, “mere believing” is not “a kind of botched knowing” but a mental state fundamentally different from knowing, with its own crucial and distinctive role in our cognitive life. Contrary to the claim that belief aims at knowledge, the specific contribution of belief to our cognition is that of aiming at truth when knowledge is out of our cognitive reach. Knowing and believing are mutually exclusive but complementary ways of 'thinking with assent'. The book then applies this renewed paradigm to range of controversial issues, including the taxonomy of belief, the role of the will in belief, testimony, collective knowledge, and religious epistemology. Applying innovative methods to a vast range of materials on a rich variety of topics, this is a rare philosopher and a work of exceptional interest. Applying innovative methods to a vast range of materials on a rich variety of topics, this is a rare philosopher and a work of exceptional interest.

Epistemology is currently in ferment. Ever since Plato, the textbook story goes, knowledge has been conceived as justified true belief; but in 1963 Edmund Gettier blew a huge hole in this supposedly traditional account. Six decades later, however, ongoing attempts to identify the conditions which turn belief into knowledge continue to face counterexamples and charges of circularity. In response to this recurrent failure, leading philosophers have begun exploring alternative accounts of knowledge. This ground-breaking book pushes the revolt against post-Gettier epistemology in a radically new direction. It begins by challenging the crude history of philosophy underling the entire Gettier paradigm. A survey ranging from the pre-Socratics to the mid-twentieth century reveals that the allegedly 'standard' or 'traditional' analysis of knowledge is neither standard nor traditional. In fact, it is difficult to find major philosophers for thousands of years who regarded knowledge as a species of belief, or belief as entailed by knowledge. The standard view was rather that knowing and believing are distinct, mutually exclusive mental states, involving different mental faculties, and playing distinct and complementary roles in our cognitive lives. Having demolished the historical premise upon which the entire Gettier paradigm rests, this book reframes elements of this age-old consensus in contemporary terms which push 'knowledge first' epistemology in a fresh direction. Knowledge, Antognazza argues, is phenomenologically and ontologically prior to belief, and, crucially, is not a kind of belief - not even "the best kind". In turn, "mere believing" is not "a kind of botched knowing" but a mental state fundamentally different from knowing, with its own crucial and distinctive role in our cognitive life. Contrary to the claim that belief aims at knowledge, the specific contribution of belief to our cognition is that of aiming at truth when knowledge is out of our cognitive reach. Knowing and believing are mutually exclusive but complementary ways of 'thinking with assent'. The book then applies this renewed paradigm to range of controversial issues, including the taxonomy of belief, the role of the will in belief, testimony, collective knowledge, and religious epistemology. Applying innovative methods to a vast range of materials on a rich variety of topics, this is a rare philosopher and a work of exceptional interest. Applying innovative methods to a vast range of materials on a rich variety of topics, this is a rare philosopher and a work of exceptional interest.

Divine Enticement argues for a reconception of theology and it subject matter as modes of seduction, of both body and mind. Theological language as evocation opens onto rereadings of faith, sacrament, ethics, prayer and scripture. The conclusion argues for a sense of theology as calling upon infinite possibility.

Both Newman and Stein present a mature response to the challenges of their eras. In like manner they reflect splendid examples of genuine persons in the grip of disrupting cultural trends. They show the primacy of individual conscience and the importance of individual integrity even at the expense of social ostracism and extermination. Newman and Stein are outstanding witnesses of individual freedom vis-à-vis social and political systems. This book uniquely combines the biographies of these two figures in order to show that no matter what kind of circumstances we may live in, loyalty to one’s own self is the most significant part of life. "In a penetrating account of Newman and Edith Stein, Jan Kłos explores the spirituality of two saints, each of them 'speaking to our time'. By explorations of their life and work, the author provides a wealth of insights for the twenty-first century. At once sensitive and learned, Jan Kłos's Heart Speaks unto Heart is a volume to be treasured and read again." - Prof. Andrew Breeze, Universidad de Navarra, Spain "In this profound and stimulating study, Kłos invites the reader to think, not so much about Newman and Stein as with them, and thus join them in their unique but mutually illuminating efforts to make sense of their faith, their times (still very much our times), themselves, and, ultimately, the mystery of the truth in whose grasp they both lived and died. In translating Newman’s work, Stein discovered herself in communion with him. Heart Speaks unto Heart beautifully explores this communion, and in doing so shows us why it matters." - Prof. Paul Wojda, University of St. Thomas, U.S.A.

We are saved by faith when we trust that Jesus died for our sins. This is the gospel, or so we are taught. But what is faith? And does this accurately summarize the gospel? Because faith is frequently misunderstood and the climax of the gospel misidentified, the gospel's full power remains untapped. While offering a fresh proposal for what faith means within a biblical theology of salvation, Matthew Bates presses the church toward a new precision: we are saved solely by allegiance to Jesus the king. Instead of faith alone, Christians must speak about salvation by allegiance alone. The book includes discussion questions for students, pastors, and church groups and a foreword by Scot McKnight.

Seldom have God matters been treated with such verve, sense, rigour and humour as in this collection of writings by Herbert McCabe. The book demonstrates the depth and clarity of his theology and philosophy of God, his appetite for controversy, both political and theological, as well as a traditional Catholic concern for prayer, liturgy, Mary and St Dominic. The articles, which range widely, and represent over twenty years of characterstically dominican enterprise, reveal a personality that is itslef clear evidence that God matters.

"The Summa Theologica is the best-known work of Italian philosopher, scholar, and Dominican friar SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (1225 1274), widely considered the Catholic Church s greatest theologian. Famously consulted (immediately after the Bible) on religious questions at the Council of Trent, Aquinas s masterpiece has been considered a summary of official Church philosophy ever since. Aquinas considers approximately 10,000 questions on Church doctrine covering the roles and nature of God, man, and Jesus, then lays out objections to Church teachings and systematically confronts each, using Biblical verses, theologians, and philosophers to bolster his arguments. In Volume III, Aquinas addresses: faith and heresy charity peace and war mercy, anger, and justice prayer truth and much more. This massive work of scholarship, spanning five volumes, addresses just about every possible query or argument that any believer or atheist could have, and remains essential, more than seven hundred years after it was written, for clergy, religious historians, and serious students of Catholic thought."