Cognitive Harmony

the long version

"In Cognitive Harmony, Nicholas Rescher explains the complex but crucial role that systematization plays - not just for the organization of what we know, but also for its validation - and argues for a new conception of the process philosophers call induction. Defining harmony as a coherent unification of component parts (systemic integrity) in such a way that the final object can successfully accomplish what it was meant to do (evaluative positivity), Rescher discusses it in cognitive contexts: the history of cognitive harmony, the role it has in producing human knowledge, and the sort of harmony required of philosophical systems."--Jacket.