Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical PhilosophyIn this work the distinguished physical chemist and philosopher, Michael Polanyi, demonstrates that the scientist's personal participation in his knowledge, in both its discovery and its validation, is an indispensable part of science itself. Even in the exact sciences, "knowing" is an art, of which the skill of the knower, guided by his personal commitment and his passionate sense of increasing contact with reality, is a logically necessary part. In the biological and social sciences this becomes even more evident. The tendency to make knowledge impersonal in our culture has split fact from value, science from humanity. Polanyi wishes to substitute for the objective, impersonal ideal of scientific detachment an alternative ideal which gives attention to the personal involvement of the knower in all acts of understanding. His book should help to restore science to its rightful place in an integrated culture, as part of the whole person's continuing endeavor to make sense of the totality of his experience. |
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Contents
Part Two The Tacit Component | 69 |
Part Three The Justification of Personal Knowledge | 261 |
Part Four Knowing and Being | 343 |
Index | 429 |
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Common terms and phrases
accept achieved acknowledge action affirmation animal appear apply appreciation articulate assertion become beliefs called claim commitment conception continue course culture defined described discovery distinction doubt effect established evidence example existence experience expressed extent fact follows formal framework function further guided heuristic human implied individual intellectual intelligence interest interpretation kind knowledge known language learning living logical London machine Marxism mathematics matter meaning mechanics merely mind moral nature objects observed once operations organs original ourselves particular passions performance physics possible powers practical present principle probability problem quantum mechanics question random range reality reason recognize reference regarded relation rely respect responsible result rules scientific scientists seen sense sentence similar situation society speak standards statement success symbols theory things thought true truth turn understanding universal whole
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical Philosophy |
| Author | Michael Polanyi |
| Edition | reprint, revised |
| Publisher | Psychology Press, 1998 |
| ISBN | 041515149X, 9780415151498 |
| Length | 428 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |