DISCUSSIONI / José Guilherme B. A. Sutil
The title of the first chapter is “Introduction: Boundaries of Experience” (pp. 1-67), being a critical dialogue with the Aristotelian statement according to which all human beings aspire to knowledge. This reflection on the Aristotelian thesis leads to the development of a theory of knowledge whose main motivation consists in seeking to determine whether, by virtue of its very nature, knowledge can ever be complete. The important thing is to determine whether this process suggests the existence of one single truth or, on the contrary, its development is fundamentally divergent; this is where the author establishes some links with Kant’s philosophy. Boos attributes an almost-theological dignity to this rational investigation or inquiry.
The above-mentioned opposition can also be described as a tension between a hieratic (tendentially dogmatic) and a zetetic (tendentially sceptical) conception of knowledge. The author sees the way how the two different views deal with the existence of logical paradoxes as an expression of such distinction: in the former case, paradoxes are but apparent and they can be eliminated through a correct interpretation of the problem. In contrast, for the author such paradoxes are a sign that the heuristic procedure can never be closed, that is, it can never have an end. As is clarified at a certain point in the book, the author believes that the hieratic conception is founded on a semantic monism according to which any theory devoid of a single interpretation is inconsistent. The author devotes more space to the discussion of certain ideas by Leibniz, Berkeley (whom he interprets as someone who harmonises a zetetic, non-sceptical conception with hieratic ideals) Hume (about whom he provides an original interpretation since he considers that this Scottish philosopher postulated a uniform, non-empirical absolute, which is experience), and Kant.
