Objectivity and Insight [Paperback]

The first two parts ofObjectivity and Insightexplore the prospects for objectivity on the standard ontological conception, and find that they are not good. In Part I, under the heading of subject-driven scepticism, Sacks addresses the problem of securing epistemic reach that extends beyond subjective content. In so doing, he considers models of mind proposed by Locke, Hume, Kant, James, and Bergson. Part II, under the heading of world-driven scepticism, discusses the scope for universality of normative structure-a problem which survives even after the assumption of an epistemologically significant breach between subject and object has been rejected. In the third part of the book Sacks introduces an alternative conception of objectivity, and shows that there is good reason to accept it. This conception turns on an insight which is taken to be implicit in transcendental idealism, and responsible for its abiding appeal; but Sacks's articulation of that insight is neither idealist nor metaphysical.

Part I
1. Empiricist Theories of the Mind: Locke and Hume
2. Kant
3. James and Bergson: The Neglected Alternative
Part II
From the Ecological Subject to the Domestication of Reason
5. The Scope of Objectivity
6. Transcendental Constraints and Transcendental Features
Part III
7. A Compulsion to Objectivity in Experience
8. A Defence of Transcendental Arguments
9. Conclusion: Objectivity, Insight, and the Place of Fictional Force
References
Index