In Defense of Intuitions : A New Rationalist Manifesto

Most contemporary philosophers (71.1%, according to a recent survey) believe that a priori knowledge is really possible. Indeed, since the late 1980s there has been a renewed and steadily growing interest in rationalism and the a priori; and gradually what George Bealer has dubbed a __rationalist renaissance__ has emerged onto the contemporary philosophical scene. At the same time, however, even despite this renaissance, the core notion of __rational intuition__ has not been either adequately defended or fully developed, especially as regards solving its two core problems: (1) __how rational intuitions can sufficiently justify beliefs__, and (2) __how to explain the real possibility of rational intuitions__. Given that unstable dialectical situation, this book is an attempt to respond critically, directly, and decisively to the most important contemporary skeptical anti-rationalist attacks on intuitions and a priori knowledge in philosophy, and to defend __neo-rationalism__ from a contemporary Kantian standpoint, with a special focus on the theory of rational intuitions and on solving its two core problems. Introduction: The Old Rationalism and the New Rationalism PART I: RATIONALISM REDUX: RATIONAL INTUITIONS AND CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY 1. The Self-Imposition of Authoritative Rational Intuition 2 Beyond Experimentalism 3. Rational Intuitions and Analytic Metaphysics 4. Towards a Defense of Rational Intuitions PART II: RATIONALISM REGAINED: THE BENACERRAF DILEMMAS AND RATIONAL INTUITIONS IN MATHEMATICS, LOGIC, AND PHILOSOPHY 5. Introduction 6. Rationalism Lost: The Original Benacerraf Dilemma 7. The Benacerraf Dilemma Extended and Generalized 8. What is A Priori Knowledge? 9. What are Intuitions? 10. Rational Intuitions and the Irrelevance of Experimental Philosophy 11. Philosophical Intuitions, Scientific Naturalism, and The Mathematico-Centric Predicament 12. Kantian Structuralism 13. Kantian Intuitionism 14. Parsons, Kantian Structuralism, and Kantian Intuitionism 15. Why Logic Must Be Transcendental 16. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index A Reply To Contemporary Skepticism About Intuitions And A Priori Knowledge, And A Defense Of Neo-rationalism From A Contemporary Kantian Standpoint, Focusing On The Theory Of Rational Intuitions And On Solving The Two Core Problems Of Justifying And Explaining Them. By Andrew Chapman, Addison Ellis, Robert Hanna, Tyler Hildebrand, Henry W. Pickford.