Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology Books

Book SynopsisWolfgang Spohn is one of the most distinguished analytic philosophers in Germany. His work covers a huge range including epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of science. This collection presents 15 of his most important essays on theoretical philosophy.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Belief Ch. 1: Ordinal Conditional Functions. A Dynamic Theory of Epistemic States 30 pp. Causation Ch. 2: Direct and Indirect Causes ca. 36 pp. Ch. 3: Bayesian Nets Are All There Is To Causal Dependence 16 pp. Ch. 4: Causation: An Alternative ca. 28 pp. Ch. 5: Causal Laws are Objectifications of Inductive Schemes 30 pp. Laws Ch. 6: Laws, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, and the Dynamics of Belief 22 pp. Ch. 7: Enumerative Induction and Lawlikeness ca. 24 pp. Ch. 8: Chance and Necessity: From Humean Supervenience to Humean Projection ca. 36 pp. Coherence Ch. 9: A Reason for Explanation: Explanations Provide Stable Reasons 32 pp. Ch. 10: Two Coherence Principles 21 pp. Ch. 11: How to Understand the Foundations of Empirical Belief in a Coherentist Way 18 pp. Concepts Ch. 12: A Priori Reasons: Fresh Look at Dispositions ca. 24 pp. Ch. 13: The Character of Color Predicates: A Materialist View 29 pp. Ch. 14: Concepts Are Beliefs About Essences [with Ulrike Haas-Spohn] 30 pp. Ch. 15: The Intentional versus the Propositional Conception of the Objects of Belief ca. 26 pp. Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisCollects works that address key challenges for a feminist approach to knowledge and scientific practice. This title is suitable for both students and scholars of feminist epistemology and philosophy of science. It offers a mix of contributions from well-established feminist scholars and the next generation of feminist epistemologists.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science in the Twenty-first Century; Heidi E. Grasswick.- I Intersections: Feminism, Epistemology, and Science Studies.- 1. The Marginalization of Feminist Epistemology and What That Reveals About Epistemology ‘Proper’; Phyllis Rooney.- 2. Contextualism in Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science; Kristina Rolin.- 3. Altogether Now: A Virtue-theoretic Approach to Pluralism in Feminist Epistemology; Nancy Daukas.- 4. The Implications of the New Materialisms for Feminist Epistemology; Samantha Frost.- 5. Interrogating the Modernity vs. Tradition Contrast: Whose Science and Technology for Whose Social Progress?; Sandra Harding.- II Democracy and Diversity in Knowledge Practices.- 6. Is Millian Democratic Science the Right Model for Feminist Science?; Kristen Intemann.- 7. What’s in it for me? The Benefits of Diversity in Scientific Communities; Carla Fehr.- 8. What Knowers Know Well: Women, Work and the Academy; Alison Wylie.- III Contexts of Oppression: Accountability in Knowing.- 9. More than Skin Deep: Situated Communities and the Case of Agent Orange in the Aluoi Valley, Viet Nam; Nancy McHugh.- 10. ‘They Treated Him Well’: Fact, Fiction, and the Politics of Knowledge; Lorraine Code.- 11. Wrongful Requests and Strategic Refusals to Understand; Gaile Pohlhaus, Jr.- 12. Liberatory Epistemology and Sharing Knowledge: Querying the Norms; Heidi E. Grasswick.- Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe author shows that contemporary value-neutral and metaphysically economical conceptions of autonomy, such as that of Harry Frankfurt, face a serious problem. It turns out that the dominant modern ideal of autonomy cannot do without a costly metaphysics if it is to be coherent.Trade Review'The author has a mastery of the literature on moral and political autonomy... [he has] made an interesting and original contribution to what is a vital contemporary debate.' - Professor Timothy O'Hagan, University of East AngliaTable of ContentsPreface PART I The Modern Ideal of Autonomy Ancient Ideals of the Person: Plato and Augustine Problems with the Modern Ideal: The Need for Extension Using Plato and Augustine to Fill the Gap PART II Sartrean Existentialism: Extreme Freedom and Groundless Choice Frankfurt Hill's Idea of Autonomy The Ideal of the Person in Kant's Groundwork Bibliography Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisAristotle's Metaphysics is an extremely rich and important philosophical work, unique in that it is an inquiry devoted to discovering a doctrine, rather than a treatise that defends a doctrine. This title presents an introduction to the text, offering guidance on: philosophical context; key themes; reading the text; and, reception and influence.Trade Review‘Having already earned an enduring place as an expositor of Aristotle's work in his One and Many in Aristotle's Metaphysics, Edward C. Halper now proves that he is an expert teacher as well. Informed throughout by his unique awareness of the dialectical integrity of this indispensable text, Halper's pellucid guide provides the beginner with a firm foundation for further progress in philosophy.' -- William H.F. Altman, author of Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic.‘Aristotle's Metaphysics is not an easy book to read, but now it is possible for both graduate and undergraduate classes to study it first-hand. Ed Halper has done a beautiful job of mapping the whole terrain of Aristotle's complex dialectical argument from beginning to end.Thanks to this overview of the whole, one can now chart a well-informed course through a coherent sequence of its parts.' -- Joe Sachs, translator of the Metaphysics and other works of Aristotle.‘This clear and concise book is an invaluable guide to one of Aristotle's most important and profound works. The analysis that Halper offers allow those beginning to navigate the intricacies of Aristotle's Metaphysics to see the main lines of each argument and to make sense of the work as an integral whole.' -- Owen Goldin, Professor of Philosophy at Marquette University, USA. ‘This is an elegant introduction to the main lines of Aristotle's Metaphysics and at the same time an argument for the unity and coherence of the work. It distills decades of reflection on one of the most intricate texts in the Western philosophical tradition. Halper excels at expressing the subtleties of Aristotle's thought in plain English. The reader who is struggling to figure out what Aristotle is up to in the Metaphysics will find much help here.' -- Arthur Madigan S.J., Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, USATable of Contents1. Context; 2. Overview of Themes; 3. Reading the Text; 4. Reception and Influence; 5. Further Reading; Notes; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAndrew Bailey is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.Trade ReviewTop-notch contributors weigh in on an excellent selection of key figures bookended by Bailey’s own excellent overviews. This volume is a must read for anyone who wants to get up to speed on both the history and the cutting edge in the philosophy of mind. * Pete Mandik, Professor of Philosophy, William Paterson University of New Jersey, USA *Philosophy of Mind: The Key Thinkers provides a unique entry to current philosophy of mind. By focusing on "key thinkers" rather than the typical topics based approach, we see the core problems and their development in a fresh light. The book also provides delightful digressions into the biographies and personalities of some of these philosophers. * William Seager, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Canada *Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors 1. Introduction: 90 Years of Philosophy of Mind Andrew Bailey 2. Decoding René Descartes’ ‘Myth’ of Mind Patricia Easton 3. Edmund Husserl and Phenomenology Dermot Moran 4. Maurice Merleau-Ponty: A Phenomenological Philosophy of Mind and Body Sara Heinämaa 5. Gilbert Ryle and Logical Behaviourism William Lyons 6. The Contributions of U.T. Place, H. Feigl, and J.J.C. Smart to the Identity Theory of Consciousness Brian P. McLaughlin and Ronald Planer 7. David Lewis, David Armstrong, and the Causal Theory of the Mind David Braddon-Mitchell 8. Hilary Putnam and Computational Functionalism Oron Shagrir 9. Jerry Fodor and the Representational Theory of Mind Matthew Katz 10. Donald Davidson, Daniel Dennett, and the Origins of the Normative Model of the Mind Andrew Brook 11. Tracking Representationalism: William Lycan, Fred Dretske, and Michael Tye David Bourget and Angela Mendelovici 12. The Neurophilosophies of Patricia and Paul Churchland John Bickle 13. Andy Clark, Antonio Damasio, and Embodied Cognition Monica Cowart 14. David Chalmers on Mind and Consciousness Richard Brown 15. Postscript: Philosophy of Mind—The Next Ten Years? Andrew Bailey Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJ. O. Urmson is Emeritus Professor at Stanford University and Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Peter Lautner is a fellow of the Research Group for Classical Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Science.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Textual Emendations TRANSLATION Notes Bibliography English-Greek Glossary Greek-English Index Index of Passages Cited Subject Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisJan Opsomer is Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina, USA. Carlos Steel is Emeritus Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and Director of 'Aristoteles Latinus'.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Textual Emendations TRANSLATION Notes Bibliography English-Greek Glossary Greek-English Index Index of Passages Cited Subject Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisJohn Dillon is Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Dominic O'Meara is Professor of Philosophy, University of Fribourg, SwitzerlandTable of ContentsConventions Introduction Textual Emendations Translation Notes Bibliography English-Greek Glossary Greek-English Index Index of Concordances with Ps.-Alexander Index of Aristotelian and Platonic Passages Subject Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDominic O'Meara is Professor of Philosophy, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. John Dillon is Regius Professor Emeritus of Greek, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.Table of ContentsConventions Introduction Textual Emendations Translation Notes Select Bibliography English Greek Glossary Greek English Index Index of Aristotelian and Platonic Passages Subject Index

Read more less

Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Textual Emendations TRANSLATION Notes Bibliography English-Greek Glossary Greek-English Index Index of Passages Cited Subject Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis open access book looks at Olympiodorus (AD c. 500570), possibly the last non-Christian teacher of philosophy in Alexandria, who delivered 28 lectures as an introduction to Plato. This volume translates lectures 1028, following from the first nine lectures and a biography of the philosopher published in translation in a companion volume, Olympiodorus: Life of Plato and On Plato First Alcibiades 19 (Bloomsbury, 2014).For us, these lectures can serve as an accessible introduction to late Neoplatonism. Olympiodorus locates the First Alcibiades at the start of the curriculum on Plato, because it is about self-knowledge. His pupils are beginners, able to approach the hierarchy of philosophical virtues, like the aristocratic playboy Alcibiades. Alcibiades needs to know himself, at least as an individual with particular actions, before he can reach the virtues of mere civic interaction. As Olympiodorus addresses mainly Christian students, he tells them that the differTrade Review“[Michael Griffin] has taken on the thankless task of the translator with commendable enthusiasm, thoroughness and accuracy; the resulting volume is, like its predecessor, a labor of love … G.’s translation, based on the second printing of Westerink’s (1956) Greek text and supplemented with only a few emendations by G. himself or earlier editors such as Creuzer, is of the highest quality. It presents a readable and accurate rendering of Olympiodorus’ Greek, while taking pains to approximate the lively, colloquial tone of Platonic dialogue wherever the Alcibiades is quoted in the commentary. * International Journal of the Platonic Tradition *Table of ContentsConventions Textual Emendations Introduction Translator's Note Translation Notes Select Bibliography English-Greek Glossary Greek-English Index Index of Names Subject Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisValia Allori is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Bergamo, Italy.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPredrag Cicovacki is Professor of Philosophy and the O'Leary Research Fellow at the College of the Holy Cross, MA, USA. He has published over seventy-five philosophy papers published in English, Serbian, German, Russian, Chinese, and Slovenian and is the author or editor of twelve books, including The Ethics of Nonviolence (2013) and The Restoration of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision (2012).Trade ReviewThe Analysis of Wonder is both an engaging and enlightening presentation of the philosophy of Nicolai Hartmann, one of the major German philosophers of the first part of the 20th Century undeservedly little known in the English-speaking world. The book’s three parts clearly present Hartmann’s ontology, theory of values (both ethical and aesthetic ones) and personality, carefully drawing the major connections among them. After a long period of disarray, Hartmann rehabilitated both ontology –his ontology comprises one of the most composite and rich theories of categories ever developed – and developed one of the first systematic theories of values – both ethical and aesthetic – showing how the latter may include and are higher than the former. Cicovacki’s book offers a well-balanced, clear introduction to these and other issues and promises to become the reference book for anyone wishing to know Hartmann’s philosophy. -- Roberto Poli, Research Professor, University of Trento, Italy, and President of the Nicolai Hartmann SocietyThis introduction to the life work of Nicolai Hartmann is, to my knowledge, the only book in English to present the entire range of Hartmann’s thought. It does so in lucid prose and with sufficient detail so that the reader new to Hartmann can take the measure of his procedure and its outcomes. Hartmann has created a method of research, a work in progress, indeed an edifice of ideas, especially in ethics and aesthetics, that cries out for development. Dr. Cicovacki's book is an important symptom of a welcome resurgence of interest in Hartmann. It will be of great use to professional philosophers who are unfamiliar with him, and to students whom it should encourage to take up the study of this great and unique philosopher. -- Eugene Kelly, Professor of Philosophy, New York Institute of Technology, USAThis is a rewarding introduction to the thought of the last great metaphysician. Cicovacki shows how Hartmann avoids the temptation to over-systematize as he provides categories adequate for informed wonderment before the full splendor of reality. -- Nalin Ranasinghe, Professor of Philosophy, Assumption College, USAIn The Analysis of Wonder, Cicovacki provides a lively, comprehensive introduction to Hartmann’s philosophy in a small package, written in a style that is not overly encumbered by scholarly jargon and technical apparatus, and balances well issues of contemporary relevance with detailed scholarship. It is not only a survey of Hartmann’s major ideas, but makes a case for reading Hartmann in light of certain of these ideas—building up to the claim that 'personality' is a synthetic category and reality which brings together Hartmann’s ontological and axiological work. It is an important contribution to a growing English-language literature on this neglected major German philosopher. -- Keith R. Peterson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Colby College, USAA splendid introduction [to Nicolai Hartmann] for the English-speaking world. […] Cicovacki has presented us with an interesting and concise summary of Hartmann's thought in systematic presentation [… and] offers a handy and easy-to-read introduction to a difficult and original thinker. The prose is clear and lucid. For anyone wanting to rediscover a giant of the 20th century, this book is an excellent place to start. -- Sebastian Luft, Marquette University * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *On the whole, it is clear that Hartmann’s philosophy is dauntingly complex and idiosyncratic; nevertheless, Cicovacki elegantly captures this complexity in clear and engaging analysis. As a compelling introduction to Hartmann’s philosophy, accessible to general and specialized audiences, Cicovacki has succeeded. -- Eric Chelstrom, St. Mary’s University * The Review of Metaphysics *Table of ContentsChronological Table Introduction: Does Hartmann Matter? Part I: Being I.1 Philosophical Method I.2 Being as Being I.3 Modifications of Being I.4 Strata of Real Being I.5 Categories of Real Being I.6 Categories of Being and Categories of Cognition I.7. Ontology of Cognition I.8 Critique of Intellectualism Part II: Values II.1 Nature of Values II.2 Moral Values in General II.3 Four Fundamental Moral Values II.4 Four Forms of Love II.5 Aesthetic Object and Aesthetic Act II.6 Aesthetic Values II.7 Truth in Art II.8 Sublime II.9 Critique of Moralism Part III: Personality III.1 The Realm of Real Being and the Realm of Values III.2 Personality as a Value III.3 Pseudo, Spurious and Genuine Personality III.4 Fulfillment of Personality Conclusion: Hartmann’s New Ways of Philosophy Bibliography of Hartmann’s Works Index

Read more less