http://pro-libertate.net/20160124/286-read-how-do-you-know ( )

This book has an unusual topic: ordinary knowledge, the kind of knowledge which "is almost entirely grounded in hearsay from a supposedly credible or even authoritative source, although commonly (...) we can no longer remember the source or its quality" (p. 1). It's certainly a fresh and important perspective which philosophers and political theorists could take more seriously than they presently do. But this book is not quite the home run I was expecting in the introductory chapter. The author claims to present an economic theory of ordinary knowledge, but I could not glean any real theoretical structure even between the lines. Basically he just discusses a variety of issues surrounding ordinary knowledge. The presentation is for the most part very intelligent, but it's not theoretical.

I liked chapter 3 on ordinary knowledge in democracy, chapter 4 on Hayek's and von Mises' liberalism and chapter 6 on institutional knowledge. I did not like chapter 2, which goes into excessive detail on "intelligent design", a subject which really did not belong among the others in this book. The chapters have originally been published separately, which unfortunately makes this book a bit incohesive. But even so it is certainly worth reading. The author works competently with a broad range of ideas, ranging from philosophy to different areas of social and political theory. Academically inclined readers should certainly enjoy his thorough arguments despite the minor faults I have noted.