Phenomenology of Human Understanding

The problem of human knowing has been foundational for the enterprise of philosophy since the time of Descartes. The great philosophers have offered different accounts of the power and limits of human knowing but no generally acceptable system has emerged. Contemporary writers have almost given up on this most intractable issue. In this book Brian Cronin suggests using the method of introspective description to identify the characteristics of the act of human understanding and knowing. Introspection--far from being private and unverifiable--can be public communal and verifiable. If we can describe our dreams and our feelings then we can describe our acts of understanding. Using concrete examples one can identify the activities involved--namely questioning researching getting an idea expressing a concept reflecting on the evidence and inferring a conclusion. Each of these activities can be described clearly and in great detail. If we perform these activities well we can understand and know both truth and value. The text invites readers to verify each and every statement in their own experience of understanding. This is a detailed and verifiable account of human knowing: an extremely valuable contribution to philosophy and a solution to the foundational problem of knowing. Nothing is more important for the cultural life of our age than accurate self-knowledge. This book by Brian Cronin addresses that challenge--and delivers. Written in a direct and simple style the book leads the reader on a profound journey of transformation--to themselves and to the world. I have used Cronins previous works with both faculty and students to their great benefit. I could not recommend this book more highly. --Richard M. Liddy Seton Hall University Brian Cronin is an Irish Spiritan missionary and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Duquesne University Pittsburgh. He has worked as a missionary in Kenya and Tanzania and has been teaching philosophy since 1980. He did his doctorate at Boston College and was later awarded five postdoctoral fellowships there. He is author of two books Foundations of Philosophy (1999) and Value Ethics (2006).