Reflections on Human Inquiry: Science, Philosophy, and Common Life
Human beings are endowed with cognitive
agency. Our grasp of the world, and of ourselves, are not merely responses to
external stimuli, they are reflective products of human inquiry. The twelve
exploratory essays collected in this volume examine forms and limits of human
inquiry from a largely sceptical point of view.
At one point in human history it was
thought that modern science, especially theoretical physics, is the paradigm of
human inquiry. Where does this form of
inquiry significantly apply? Are there limits on its claims of truth and
objectivity? How much of the vast canvas of human experience does it cover?
Where do other forms of inquiry, such as philosophy, religion, and the arts,
attain their salience?
With the emergence
of scientific study of the human mind itself, these critical questions have
taken a more intriguing form in recent decades. Can human inquiry investigate
its own nature? Can the scientific theory of language explain the richness of
human expression? Can a science of the mind account for human experience?
These probing questions on the
scientific enterprise are usually addressed from the outside, as it were, by
humanists and critical theorists. In these essays, they are examined from the
inside by a philosopher whose primary academic work concerns the study of the
human linguistic mind. In that sense, the sceptical inquiry turns on itself.
The twelve essays carve the route from the scientific mode to the literary and artistic modes through a survey of the forms of human inquiry. The book will engage the attention of philosophers, including philosophers of science, literary theorists, cultural studies, and history and sociology of human knowledge.
Endorsements
With remarkable
range and depth, these tantalizing essays explore scientific and cultural forms
of inquiry, leading concerns of Indian and western philosophy (and indigenous
thought as well), the role of the cognitive agent in description and ascription
– concepts that are examined in depth -- and other topics that have inspired
reflection on the world and ourselves for ages. At each point, there are
instructive and challenging new perspectives and insights. A notable
achievement, and a welcome gift to the inquiring mind.
Noam Chomsky, Emeritus Institute Professor of
Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nirmalangshu Mukherji's selection of essays in this
book are reflections of a fine scholar made over a very worthy career of
research and teaching in Philosophy and Linguistics in India for the last many
decades. Their range is wide —science, philosophy, literature, linguistics,
music, religion, and everyday experience—and they are at once rigorous and
accessible. They reflect a deep commitment to scientific objectivity, even as
they are wise in their understanding of the limits of science’s reach into the
domain of what he calls ‘common life’. They will be a source of much pleasure
and instruction and insight to the serious reader.
Akeel Bilgrami, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy,
Columbia University
A
collection of essays on classical topics -- knowledge, truth, realism, belief,
meaning, interpretation – by a critical and innovative mind with an atypical
intellectual profile. Mukherji is nourished by analytic philosophy and
theoretical linguistics, but his interests go well beyond narrow academic
concerns. His writings reflect the breadth of his aspirations and should appeal
to the general public as well as to the experts.
Francois Recanati, Director, Institut Jean Nicod
and Senior Fellow, CNRS, Paris.
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