Reviews for The flight from authority

The average rating for The flight from authority based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-25 00:00:00 James Lester Jeffrey Stout argues for a certain historicism that employs ‘conceptual archaeology.’ In the book, he examines how knowledge has changed from being based on a demonstrable system of arguments, scientia, and a probability that is higher depending on the authority of the person from which it is accepted, opinio, to the denial of scientia and the rise of the new probability: whereby the more evidence a proposition has, the higher likelihood that it is correct. Connecting the rise of the new probability with contemporary philosophy of ethics, Stout also examines how foundationalism and, its contemporary opposite, conceptual relativism, are unwarranted and vestiges of a past epistemic situation. This book has been an extremely useful starting point for me as I explore Wittgenstein’s philosophy without fideism. It has also helped me avoid common reductions and dichotomies that are also from another time. I’d recommend this to any student of philosophy.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-08-18 00:00:00 Ricardo Ward subtitle: "Religion, morality, and the quest for autonomy"