How Do You Know? : The Epistemological Foundations of 21st Century Literacy

"This book defines the concept and practices of literacy through a discussion of knowledge, information media, culture, subjectivity, science, communication, and politics. Examining the ways in which the spread of literacy and education have caused culture wars in pluralist societies since the 16th century, the author reviews an interdisciplinary array of scholarly literature to contend that science, and more broadly evidence-based inductive arguments, offer the only reliable source information, and the only peaceful solution to cultural conflict in the 21st century. With a focus on the multifaceted practice of literacy-as-communication as embedded within larger social and political processes, this book offers a comprehensive study of literacy through five core topics: knowledge, psychology, culture, science, and arguing over truth in pluralist democracies. The central thesis of the book argues that we require a new literacy that incorporates reading and writing with advanced cognitive and epistemological skills. Today's citizens need to be able to understand the basic cognitive and cultural processes through which knowledge is created, and they need to know how to evaluate knowledge, peacefully debate knowledge, and productively use knowledge, for both personal decisions and public policy. How Do You Know? The Epistemological Foundations of 21st Century Literacy is an interdisciplinary study that will appeal to scholars across the sciences and humanities, especially those concerned with pedagogy and the science of learning"-- Provided by publisher Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface: Clarifying the mysteries of intellectual culture -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: The knowledge gap -- 1 An institutional history of literacy education -- PART I: A history of education, democracy, and culture war -- 2 The authority of tradition: Schooling, books, and the development of literacy -- 3 Culture wars: Literacy, schooling, and the development of democracy -- 4 Discontent with democracy: Pluralism and culture wars in the United States of America -- PART II: Subjectivity, culture, and bounded rationality -- 5 Oral culture and the development of literacy -- 6 The concept of culture -- 7 The subjective truth of fiction -- 8 Bounded rationality: The problems of subjective knowledge -- 9 Culture, common sense, and the news media -- 10 Is this story true? Bias in the news media -- PART III: Philosophy, science, and the development of objectivity -- 11 Philosophy and the development of knowledge -- 12 Science and the development of objectivity -- 13 Provisional truth: The limitations of science -- 14 Practical reasoning: Solving the problems of everyday life -- PART IV: The limitations of argument: Pluralism, values, and contested communication -- 15 Culture is a debate -- 16 Understanding cultural values -- 17 Open arguments and the warrant -- Conclusion: The virtues of toleration and democratic deliberation -- Bibliography This book defines the concept and practices of literacy. Examining the ways in which the spread of literacy and education have caused culture wars in pluralist societies since the 16th century, the author argues that science offers the only peaceful solution to cultural conflict in the 21st century.