David Hume's Reductionist Epistemology of Testimony

David Hume advances a reductionist epistemology of testimony: testimonial beliefs are justified on the basis of beliefs formed from other sources. This reduction, however, has been misunderstood. Testimonial beliefs are not justified in a manner identical to ordinary empirical beliefs; it is true, they are justified by observation of the conjunction between testimony and its truth, but the nature of the conjunctions has been misunderstood. The observation of these conjunctions provides us with our knowledge of human nature and it is this knowledge which justifies our testimonial beliefs. Hume gives a naturalistic rather than a sceptical account of testimony

On the Rationality of our Response to Testimony

The assumption that we largely lack reasons for accepting testimony has dominated its epistemology. Given the further assumption that whatever reasons we do have are insufficient to justify our testimonial beliefs, many conclude that any account of testimonial knowledge must allow credulity to be justified. In this paper I argue that both of these assumptions are false. Our responses to testimony are guided by our background beliefs as to the testimony as a type, the testimonial situation, the testifier''s character and the truth of the proposition testified to. These beliefs provide reasons for our responses. Thus, we usually do have reasons, in the sense of propositions believed, for accepting testimony and these reasons can provide evidence for the testimonial beliefs we form

The Legacy Of Aphrodite: Anchises' Offspring In The 'Homeric Hymn To Aphrodite'

The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite has traditionally been understood to pay honour to a family of Aineiadai who once held power in the Troad, but in more recent years some scholars have rejected this view. This article first revisits this controversial issue, suggesting that concentrated attention paid in the hymn to the birth of Aineias and his lineage supports the position that the poem was composed for a group that identified itself with Aineias. It then goes on to consider the view that the Hymn to Aphrodite narrates the end of Aphrodite's mixing gods and mortals in love. It is argued that this reading is not required by the text of the poem.Classic

Entrepreneurship resources in US public libraries: website analysis

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the entrepreneurship resources patrons can discover and/or access on the web pages of the largest 46 US public libraries to assess the strength of public libraries’ current support to their entrepreneur-patrons, and where, and by what means, public libraries may wish to expand, or further promote, their support. Design/methodology/approach – The author completed a website analysis of the largest 46 US public libraries, as defined by the criteria in the ALA publication The Nation’s Largest Public Libraries. Website analysis was completed via a standardized checklist assessment of each library website. Findings – Public libraries often have print and electronic resources, meeting spaces and programming that could be of use to entrepreneur-patrons, but these resources are sometimes difficult to discover on library websites. Libraries have strong partnering relationships with other government and nonprofit organizations, but they may wish to expand these partnerships further. Practical implications – Public libraries in the US often have multiple support services to offer entrepreneur-patrons. However, if libraries would like to reach entrepreneur-patrons beyond their walls, as well as within them, they may wish to consider further refining the resources both accessible via their website and promoted on it. Originality/value – While there are research articles exploring how both academic and public libraries support entrepreneur-patrons, as yet, there has been no in-depth research into how public libraries support their entrepreneur-patrons through not only their in-library offerings but also the materials highlighted and/ or available via their website. This research addresses this gap in the literature.Publisher does not allow open access until after publicatio

Relativism and our warrant for scientific theories

We depend upon the community for justified belief in scientific theory. This dependence can suggest that our individual belief in scientific theory is justified because the community believes it to be justified. This idea is at the heart of an anti-realist epistemology according to which there are no facts about justification that transcend a community's judgement thereof. Ultimately, knowledge and justified belief are simply social statuses. When conjoined with the lemma that communities can differ in what they accept as justified, epistemological anti-realism entails epistemological relativism. Further, this lemma can also be used to generate an argument for relativism and, thereby, for anti-realism. So if an epistemologically realist account of our justification for belief in scientific theory is to be given, then it must be possible, first, to defend a realist interpretation of the idea that individual belief can be community-justified and second, to defend it in a way that is compatible with the fact of possible community diversity. This paper tries to meet these challenges

A Systematic Review of Financial Literacy as a Termed Concept: More Questions Than Answers

'Financial literacy', as a concept by that name, has only been explored in library science literature for a little over a decade. The concept, and especially the role of libraries in furthering this literacy, is still evolving. This systematic literature review examines the current definition of 'financial literacy', why financial literacy matters, where the public has been accessing financial literacy education to date, the difficulties encountered, by libraries and others, in providing this education, and how these challenges might be addressed moving forward.Publisher does not allow open access until after publicatio

Financial literacy education in the United States: Exploring popular personal finance literature

As libraries work to define their roles within the global financial literacy education movement, it will serve them well to understand the popular literary component to this movement: the personal finance self-help genre. In this literature study, the author read 12 of the most popular books of this genre, as determined by simulations of likely Google searches, and conveys herein some of the beliefs and strategies these books may have imparted to library patrons. This study will benefit librarians by enhancing their understanding of the personal finance genre, conveying the genre’s interrelation to the current financial literacy movement, and even prompting librarians to question their own understanding regarding certain financial literacy components.Publisher does not allow open access until after publicatio

Angels, tooth fairies and ghosts: thinking creatively in an early years classroom

This chapter offers an evaluation and interpretation of the creative thinking and collaboration that took place in a class of five year olds in an English primary school during the academic year 2004–05. This school was committed to developing itself as a creative learning community by participating in a creativity-training programme, Synectics, more usually employed in an adult business context. This school wanted to develop its capacity for creative teaching and learning. This intent was in tune with national and international developments in education where strenuous efforts were being made to extend the reach of creative education which had for a long time been more or less exclusively associated with the arts. The chapter offers an outline of these developments to set the research in context. The research described is a case study and second phase of an evaluation of the project EXCITE! (Excellence, Creativity and Innovation in Teaching and Education) and was carried out by researchers from the Open University. Previous research suggests that when children first start school, they are already competent creative thinkers and storytellers and that both creative and narrative modes of thinking involve abductive rather than deductive inferential reasoning. It is argued that although children may need training in paradigmatic (deductive) modes of thought, they do not necessarily need further training in narrative modes of thought. The examples of young children’s thinking discussed in chapter support this argument. The Synectics creativity-training programme does not claim to ‘teach’ creative thinking per se. The evidence presented suggests that when teachers use Synectics tools and techniques to inform practice, these allow them to create a positive, emotional climate that allows young children to use analogy and metaphor to construct creative explanations and narratives through collaborative discussion