The Epistemology of Reading and Interpretation

This book explores the ways in which reading and textual interpretation function as sources of knowledge.

René van Woudenberg (Author)

9781009016360, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 October 2023

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.373 kg

'Besides being thoroughly analytical in nature, Van Woudenberg's way of philosophizing is also strongly commonsensical. I find his approach convincing and inspiring…' Gert van den Brink, Journal of Reformed Theology

Reading and textual interpretation are ordinary human activities, performed inside as well as outside academia, but precisely how they function as unique sources of knowledge is not well understood. In this book, René van Woudenberg explores the nature of reading and how it is distinct from perception and (attending to) testimony, which are two widely acknowledged knowledge sources. After distinguishing seven accounts of interpretation, van Woudenberg discusses the question of whether all reading inevitably involves interpretation, and shows that although reading and interpretation often go together, they are distinct activities. He goes on to argue that both reading and interpretation can be paths to realistically conceived truth, and explains the conditions under which we are justified in believing that they do indeed lead us to the truth. Along the way, he offers clear and novel analyses of reading, meaning, interpretation, and interpretative knowledge.

Introduction
1. Knowing and reading
2. Reading and understanding
3. Sources of knowledge and their individuation
4. Why reading doesn't reduce either to attending to testimony or to perception
5. Reading as a source of knowledge
6. The objects of reading are the products of writing
7. Texts, meanings, and interpretation
8. Knowledge through interpretation (1): Allegory, difficulty, and disambiguation
9. Knowledge through interpretation (2): Holism, reconstruction, externalism, and reader response.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ]