Podstawy wiedzy empirycznej w Analysis of Knowledge and Valuations Clarence’a Irvinga Lewisa

Abstract

In his review of Deweyean Quest for Certainty Clarence I. Lewis marks that Dewey dislikes formalization. Lewis, under the influence of logical neopostivism, especially that of Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenabach, has given a logical dimension and clarity to the classical American pragmatism, freeing neopositivism from its greatest lack, namely ‘cynicism’ in the domain of valuations. Lewis has shown how the theory of values is possible on the empirical grounds. Verificationism lies at the base of his enterprises. The text is an introduction to the Lewisean conception of verification. It contains: (1) clarification of the notion of the empirical knowledge by Lewis, (2) a consideration of the way of interpretation of doubtless empirical data by the means of a priori concepts so that it results the knowledge which is probable, (3) presentation the main distinctions and strata in the domain of human cognitions, (4) indication of the basic principles of verification of objective knowledge, (5) answer to the question about genesis and meaning of our belief in the reality of our experiences, (6) reflection on the juxtaposition of justification of empirical convictions and their verification.