Understanding

It’s all interrogative

Bibliographic Data

ID21370696
AuthorsKenneth Galbraith (University of California, Los Angeles), Kareem Khalifa (University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-01-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8116 • E-ISSN: 1573-0883
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11098-025-02477-8
OpenAlexW7119491451
LanguageEN
References cited44

In this paper, we propose a new account of understanding. Its guiding idea is that the objects that are understood have the semantic structure of questions . Understanding is achieved by grasping correct and complete answers to these questions. We develop this idea, and then argue that various kinds of propositional, objectual, and explanatory understanding are limiting cases of our “interrogative” account of understanding. In doing so, we also highlight several kinds of understanding that have received scant attention

Interrogative · Limiting · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of mind · Semantics (computer science) · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Philosophy and Theoretical Science

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access