Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology Books
Harvard University Press The Probability Map of the Universe
Book SynopsisDavid Albert’s 2000 book Time and Chance attempts to account for some of the most intractable problems in theoretical physics, in particular those arising from the direction of time. This collection assembles essays exploring and debating Albert’s ideas, now recognized as among the most important recent contributions to the philosophy of science.Trade ReviewThis volume will constitute a significant, serious contribution to a range of debates spanning philosophy of physics, general philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology. The contributors are all first-rate philosophers, their essays uniformly excellent in quality. -- Edward J. Hall, Harvard UniversityAlbert’s Time and Chance sparked a lively debate about the deep origins of time asymmetry, such as why do we know more about the past than future? The Probability Map of the Universe is a fantastic entry into this debate. It is focused yet broad, has overlap without redundancy, and is chock full of engaging contributions by experts. -- Craig Callender, University of California, San Diego
£32.26
Princeton University Press Heideggers Philosophy of Being
Book SynopsisAttempts to distinguish the center from the periphery and the essential from the incidental in Heidegger's philosophy. This book discusses the relationship between Heidegger's life and thought - in particular the connections between his philosophy and his involvement with Nazism.Trade Review"A clear, well structured and provocative study of Heidegger's corpus."--Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsCh. IIntroduction31Heidegger Absconditus42Heidegger on Logic93The Philosophy of Sein und Zeit154The Question of Being: Six Problems315Ways of Interpretation45Ch. IIAnalysis676An Interpretative Hypothesis687The Meta-Aristotelian Theme778The Phenomenologico-Hermeneutical Theme989The Transcendental Theme12110The Neo-Hegelian Theme15111The Postmonotheist Theme172Ch. IIISynthesis21112Forms of Synthesis21413The Turn (die Kehre)23314Heidegger and Hitler24615Heidegger and Nietzsche276Ch. IVCritique29116The Later Works29617An Evaluation of Sein und Zeit31718Death and the Multitude346Conclusion375List of Abbreviations387Notes389Bibliography533Index545
£59.50
Princeton University Press Dream Death and the Self
Book SynopsisApproaches the question about dream and reality by seeking to identify its subject matter: what is it that would be the dream if "this" were a dream?Trade Review"In this long, meditative, worrying book Valberg explores and defends these thoughts about himself and searches for their sources and their implications for all of us. It is an intense, personal book, aspiring to the kind of philosophical reflections that brings to light something we all know about ourselves already, but for various reasons are unwilling or unable to acknowledge."--Barry Stroud, Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsPreface xv INTRODUCTION: Philosophical Discovery and Philosophical Puzzles 1 Int.1 Discovering What We Already Know 1 Int.2 The Socratic Conception of Philosophical Discovery 2 Int.3 Wittgenstein: Insidership and Philosophical Discovery 3 Int.4 Philosophical Discovery and Resistance 6 Int.5 The Presumptuousness of a Claim to Philosophical Discovery 7 Int.6 Conceptual Analysis and the Communal Horizon 9 Int.7 The Personal Horizon 11 Int.8 Philosophical Anticipations of the Personal Horizon 13 Int.9 Two Types of Philosophical Puzzle 18 Int.10 The Extraphilosophical Puzzles 20 PART ONE: Dream THE MEANING OF THE DREAM HYPOTHESIS Chapter 1: The Dream Hypothesis and the Argument from Internality 27 1.1 Our Purpose in Raising the Dream Hypothesis 27 1.2 That the Dream/Reality Contrast Is Extrinsic to the Subject Matter of the Dream Hypothesis 28 1.3 The Argument from Internality 31 1.4 Dream and the Law of Excluded Middle 34 1.5 The Dream Hypothesis and Space 40 1.6 The Dream Hypothesis and Time 43 1.7 The Dream Hypothesis and the World 48 Chapter 2: The Dream Hypothesis: Identity and the First Person 53 2.1 A Puzzle about Identity 53 2.2 Representation and Identity 54 2.3 A Way out of the Puzzle 57 2.4 The Dream Hypothesis and the First-Person Singular 61 2.5 The Subject versus the Dreamer of a Dream; The Positional Conception of the Self 64 2.6 Emerging from a Dream and the First Person 68 Chapter 3: The Confusion of Standpoint 71 3.1 Dreams and the Infinity of Time 71 3.2 Time and the Confusion of Standpoint 74 3.3 Descartes and the Dream Hypothesis 76 3.4 Dream Skepticism versus Memory Skepticism 78 3.5 Real-Life Uncertainty about the Dream Hypothesis 80 Chapter 4: The Subject Matter of the Dream Hypothesis 84 4.1 Is the Argument from Internality Valid? 84 4.2 The Subject Matter of the Dream Hypothesis and Grammatical Illusion 86 4.3 Alternative Formulations of the Dream Hypothesis 88 4.4 Reality 91 4.5 What Is the Subject Matter of the Dream Hypothesis? 94 4.6 The Horizonal versus Phenomenal Conception of Mind 97 DREAM SKEPTICISM Chapter 5: The Dream Hypothesis and the Skeptical Challenge 101 5.1 The Skeptical Argument 101 5.2 The Usual Argument for Dream Skepticism; Immanent versus Transcendent Dream Skepticism 105 5.3 The Uniqueness of Transcendent Dream Skepticism 108 5.4 Dream Skepticism and the External World 110 5.5 Nozick on the Tank Hypothesis 113 Chapter 6: Responding to Dream Skepticism 119 6.1 Is the Dream Hypothesis a Pseudo Hypothesis? 119 6.2 Whether It Would Matter if THIS Were a Dream 122 6.3 The General Form of My Response to the Dream Hypothesis 126 6.4 I Am with Others: Metaphysical Equality and the Claim to Preeminence 128 6.5 The Commitment to (O) 131 6.6 Raising the Dream Hypothesis in Conversation: Forcing a Withdrawal to the First Person 134 6.7 Withdrawing to the First Person and the Horizonal Use of the First Person 136 6.8 Why It Is Rationally Impossible to Believe the Dream Hypothesis 138 6.9 The Space of Horizons 141 6.10 Other Minds 144 6.11 Skepticism and Solipsism 146 PART TWO: Death THE MEANING OF DEATH Chapter 7: I Will Die 153 7.1 Dream and Death; Discovering the Meaning of Death 153 7.2 Being Disturbed by the Prospect of Death 154 7.3 That the Prospect of Death Holds Up Something Not Just Awful but Incomprehensible; Death and Self-Deception 157 7.4 Reacting to the Prospect of Death: A Text 160 7.5 Philosophical Reflection and Real-Life Disturbance 165 Chapter 8: The Subject Matter and "Mineness" of My Death 168 8.1 The Prospect of Death 168 8.2 I Will Cease to Be 171 8.3 Death and the Stream of Mental States 173 8.4 The World and the Subject Matter of Death 177 8.5 The "Mineness" of My Death and the Horizonal Use of the First Person 181 DEATH AND SOLIPSISM Chapter 9: Solipsism 185 9.1 My Horizon and the Horizon 185 9.2 The Solipsism of Wittgenstein's Tractatus 188 9.3 Solipsism and Self-Consciousness 192 9.4 Kripke on the Solipsism of the Tractatus 195 9.5 Negativism 198 Chapter 10: Death and the Truth of Solipsism 201 10.1 Solipsism and My Life with Others 201 10.2 Relativized Solipsism 204 10.3 Solipsism and the Meaning of Death 206 10.4 Qualifying the NOTHINGNESS of Death 209 Chapter 11: The Awfulness and Incomprehensibility of Death 215 11.1 The Awfulness of Death 215 11.2 The Two Forms of the Impossibility of Death 219 11.3 The Temporal Impossibility of Death 220 11.4 Consciousness and Causation 222 11.5 The Solipsistic Impossibility of Death 227 11.6 The "Aloneness" of the Dying Subject 228 11.7 The Puzzles of Death and the Causation of Consciousness 232 PART THREE: The Self POSSIBILITY AND THE SELF Chapter 12: Imagination and the Cartesian Self 237 12.1 What Is "the Self"? 237 12.2 The Cartesian Argument 237 12.3 Imagination and Proof 240 12.4 Exhibiting Possibilities in Imagination 242 12.5 Imagination and Experiential Possibility 245 12.6 Experiential Possibilities and Possibilities of Essence 247 12.7 The Paralogism of Imagination 249 12.8 The Cartesian Reply 251 Chapter 13: Metaphysical Possibility and the Self 255 13.1 Metaphysical Possibility 255 13.2 Metaphysical Possibility and the Self 257 13.3 The Logic of the Self 259 13.4 Naturalizing the Self 261 THE POSITIONAL CONCEPTION OF THE SELF Chapter 14: Preliminary Reflections on the Positional Conception of the Self 264 14.1 Nagel's Puzzle about "Being Me" 264 14.2 Individual Essence: Frege on Our "Particular and Primitive" Mode of Self-Presentation 265 14.3 My Body and Me (the Human Being That I Am) 269 14.4 The Multiplicity of the Phenomenology of the Subject Position 271 14.5 The Standing/Operative Ambiguity 273 14.6 Causal Centrality 275 14.7 Causation and the Phenomenology of the Subject Position 279 14.8 Orientational Centrality 281 14.9 The Sense in Which the Positional and Horizonal Conceptions of the Self Are "Always in Play" 282 Chapter 15: The Phenomenology of the Subject Position 286 15.1 Perceptual Centrality: The Visual and Tactual Appearing of My Body 286 15.2 Perceptual Centrality: The Visual Appearing of Myself 290 15.3 Perceptual Centrality: Views of Myself 293 15.4 Centrality of Feeling: Figuring as the Space of Feeling 297 15.5 The Centrality of Feeling: The Sense in Which the Space of Feeling (My Body-Space) Is a "Space" 299 15.6 Centrality of Feeling: The Ontological Dependence of My Body-Space on My Body 304 15.7 Volitional Centrality: Acting/Will and the Phenomenology of the Subject Position 307 15.8 Volitional Centrality: The Phenomenology of Will 309 15.9 Volitional Centrality: The "Mineness" of My Actions 315 15.10 Volitional Centrality: Phenomenology and Causality 319 THE FIRST PERSON Chapter 16: The Uses of the First Person 321 16.1 Introduction 321 16.2 The Referential Use of the First Person 322 16.3 Reference and the Use of "I" as Subject/Object 324 16.4 "I Am Thinking ... /I See ..." 329 16.5 The Positional Use of the First Person 334 16.6 The Horizonal Use of the First Person 337 Chapter 17: What Makes First-Person Reference First Personal? 342 17.1 The Meaning of the Question We Are Asking 342 17.2 Following the Rule for the Use of "I" 343 17.3 Inner First-Person Reference 346 17.4 Attitudes de Se 351 17.5 First-Person Reference and the Positional Conception of the Self 354 17.6 The First Person and Emptiness at the Center 355 TIME AND THE SELF Chapter 18: Temporalizing the Self 359 18.1 Introduction 359 18.2 Tense and the Phenomenology of the Subject Position 360 18.3 The Tense Asymmetry in the Phenomenology of the Subject Position 364 18.4 Tense and the Horizonal Self 366 Chapter 19: The Problem of Personal Identity 370 19.1 The Special Philosophical Problem of Personal Identity: The Problem of First-Person Identity 370 19.2 Imagining Myself Persisting through a Change of Human Beings (Bodies) 373 19.3 Locke's View of Personal Identity 376 19.4 Persistence and the Horizon 380 19.5 Remembering; The Past-Self Ambiguity 382 19.6 Possibility, Personal Identity, and Naturalizing the Self 387 Chapter 20: Time and the Horizon 394 20.1 The Oneness of the Horizon 394 20.2 Skepticism about the Oneness over Time of My Horizon 397 20.3 Kant's Third Paralogism: The Self "in Time" and the Self That "Time Is In" 400 Chapter 21: My Past 408 21.1 The Availability in Memory of Past Events 408 21.2 The Argument from Pastness 410 21.3 Being Open to the Availability of the Past 413 21.4 Memory Images 417 21.5 Letting the Past Be Past 420 21.6 Moving from Inside to Outside the Sphere of Phenomenological Reflection 422 21.7 The Puzzle of Memory and the Puzzle of Experience 426 21.8 The Puzzle of Memory and the Problems of First-Person Identity 429 Chapter 22: My Future 432 22.1 My Future versus the Future 432 22.2 My Future and My Brain: Jumping over Death 434 22.3 Parfit on My Future Self 439 22.4 Nozick's "Closest Continuer" Theory 444 Chapter 23: My Future: The Puzzle of Division 450 23.1 Personal Identity and Possibility (Review) 450 23.2 The Possibility of Division 451 23.3 Parfit on Division 454 23.4 Other Responses to the Puzzle of Division: Nozick and Lewis 458 23.5 The Puzzle of Division and the Identity-Framework 463 23.6 Horizonal Doubling versus Splits within the Horizon 465 23.7 The Impossibility of Horizonal Doubling 468 23.8 The Unity of Consciousness 470 23.9 The Puzzle of Division 472 Chapter 24: Conclusion: The Extraphilosophical Puzzles 474 24.1 The Extra- versus Purely Philosophical Puzzles 474 24.2 The Puzzle of Division as an Extraphilosophical Puzzle 476 24.3 The Puzzle of Division and the Puzzle of the Causation of Consciousness 478 24.4 Our Causal Entrapment in the World 480 24.5 The Extraphilosophical Puzzles and the Horizonal Subject Matter 482 Bibliography 487 Index 491
£42.50
Princeton University Press George Berkeley
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""What Jones has revealed is the fascinating combination of chaos and coherence laced through Berkeley’s life."---Alex Dean, Prospect Magazine"[Tom] Jones…presents Berkeley’s life through his voluminous writings, the views of his friends and family, and the opinions of those who encountered him and his writings. The result is a big book, packed with quotations from Berkeley’s works, excerpts from letters, records of journeys and activities , and details about Berkeley’s social an personal life and the people in it. Reading it requires stamina, but the rewards is a better acquaintance with a man who, as the subtitle of the book indicates, lived a life under the influence of his philosophy."---Janna Thompson, Australian Book Review"Tom Jones has written a superb biography about the mind of a reactionary, a powerful thinker whose curiosity about the world was shaped by his religious and political conservatism."---Sean Sheehan, Prisma"There is so much to like about Tom Jones’s George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life. This new biography is an impressive effort to unearth the whole man: Jones leaves no page unturned, no sermon unsummarized, no piece of Berkelean writing, however obscure, unrevisited. . . . this monumental work will likely remain the book on Berkeley for some time."---Costica Bradatan, Times Literary Supplement"Magisterial."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer"Jones’ book is a product of titanic labor and meets the highest standards of intellectual biography. Jones suggests new interpretations of some of Berkeley’s thoughts and notes, finds new biographical materials, and offers a comprehensive approach to the whole body of Berkeley’s thought."---Artem Besedin, Berkeley Studies"Jones’s biography could not have arrived at a better time, just as public debates on the active participation of Irish people in empire and the slave trade proliferate and intensify. . . . It is easy to “de-commemorate” a thinker . . . it is much more difficult to critically engage with their thought and to gauge their influence, all while remaining conscious of their shortcomings. In this, as in much else, Jones provides a model."---Adam Coleman, Dublin Review of Books"Scholars in early modern philosophy and intellectual history, and of course Berkeley scholars, will welcome the book."---Takaharu Oda, Eighteenth Century Ireland
£29.75
Princeton University Press Bedeviled
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bedeviled admirably insists on recording the plain history of science. It just so happens that the history of that most rational of human endeavors reads at times like a Gothic tale, one replete with evil geniuses, time travelers and uncanny intelligences lurking in reality’s obscure corners."---Jess Keiser, Washington Post"Thought-provoking and highly readable . . . A welcome contribution to the philosophy of scientific discovery that deserves further scholarly attention."---Jan G. Michel, Science"A brilliant, challenging overview of the myth-driven scientific endeavors that transform human understandings of the world." * Foreword Reviews *"The workings of powerful computers, the processes of evolution, the market forces that drive the global economy. To conceptualize such unseen forces, researchers have long invoked thought experiments involving demons, devils, golems or genies . . . Canales has given us a glimpse into this haunted realm."---Ramin Skibba, Nature"At the very same time that science was said to be demystifying the world, Canales shows us, scientists were populating it all over again with the demonic. . . . [Canales] links her demonology to what she calls 'the audacity of our imagination,' our ability to imagine what does not yet exist or seems as if it cannot be real."---Casey Cep, New Yorker"In this fascinating and informative book Canales treats the reader to a rich feast of scientific demons, tracing their histories and relevance from atomic and molecular physics to computer science and biology, including a chapter on demons in the global economy."---V. V. Raman, Choice"A welcome, in-depth historical investigation of the many functions that demons have played and continue to play in science and technology."---Rawad El Skaf, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
£22.50
Princeton University Press Ultimate Questions
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Magee's writing always makes very easy reading."--Anthony Kenny, Standpoint "[Magee] writes with relaxed fluency."--Rowan Williams, New Statesman "[Bryan Magee] writes with grace and offers a thoughtful summation of human experience."--Library Journal "Living and dying in a world we accept we do not understand may not sound easy, but if Magee is any guide, the reward of doing so is endless and profound wonder."--Julian Baggini, Independent "Magee is refreshingly comfortable acknowledging the uncanniness of human experience, including the aesthetic as well as the ethical... His case for acknowledging the extent of what we do not know is a useful corrective to 'jolly hockey sticks' humanism as well as religious dogma."--Dolan Cummings, Spiked "[Ultimate Questions] is ... a deeply personal and elegant summary of [Magee's] own individual journey to and through profound philosophical questions."--ChoiceTable of Contents1 Time and Space 1 2 Finding Our Bearings 17 3 The Human Predicament 33 4 Can Experience Be Understood? 59 5 Where Such Ideas Come From 69 6 Personal Reflections 87 7 Our Predicament Summarized 105 Index 129
£10.44
Princeton University Press What Is the Present
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"
£29.75
Princeton University Press Freedom Resentment and the Metaphysics of Morals
Book Synopsis
£27.00
Princeton University Press Freedom Resentment and the Metaphysics of Morals
Book Synopsis
£18.00
Princeton University Press Bedeviled
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bedeviled admirably insists on recording the plain history of science. It just so happens that the history of that most rational of human endeavors reads at times like a Gothic tale, one replete with evil geniuses, time travelers and uncanny intelligences lurking in reality’s obscure corners."---Jess Keiser, Washington Post"Thought-provoking and highly readable . . . A welcome contribution to the philosophy of scientific discovery that deserves further scholarly attention."---Jan G. Michel, Science"A brilliant, challenging overview of the myth-driven scientific endeavors that transform human understandings of the world." * Foreword Reviews *"The workings of powerful computers, the processes of evolution, the market forces that drive the global economy. To conceptualize such unseen forces, researchers have long invoked thought experiments involving demons, devils, golems or genies . . . Canales has given us a glimpse into this haunted realm."---Ramin Skibba, Nature"At the very same time that science was said to be demystifying the world, Canales shows us, scientists were populating it all over again with the demonic. . . . [Canales] links her demonology to what she calls 'the audacity of our imagination,' our ability to imagine what does not yet exist or seems as if it cannot be real."---Casey Cep, New Yorker"In this fascinating and informative book Canales treats the reader to a rich feast of scientific demons, tracing their histories and relevance from atomic and molecular physics to computer science and biology, including a chapter on demons in the global economy."---V. V. Raman, Choice"A welcome, in-depth historical investigation of the many functions that demons have played and continue to play in science and technology."---Rawad El Skaf, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
£19.00
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Postmetaphysical Thinking
Book SynopsisIn this new collection of recent essays, Habermas takes up and pursues the line of analysis begun in The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity. He begins by outlining the sources and central themes of twentieth-century philosophy, and the range of current debates.Table of ContentsTranslator's Introduction. Part I: A Return to Metaphysics?. 1. The Horizon of Modernity Is Shifting. 2. Metaphysics after Kant. 3. Themes in Postmetaphysical Thinking. Part II: The Turn to Pragmatics:. 4. Toward a Critique of the Theory of Meaning. 5. Pearce and Communication. Part III: Between Metaphysics and the Critique of Reason:. 6. The Unity of Reason in the Diversity of Its Voices. 7. Individuation through Socialization: On George Herbert Mead's Theory of Subjectivity. 8. Philosophy and Science as Literature?. Index.
£999.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Phenomenal Woman Feminist Metaphysics and the
Book Synopsis* This book offers an important and original contribution to feminist theory* It is wide--ranging, covering a number of key figures from both the continental and analytic tradition* The author is well--known and respected in this field. .Trade Review"The Phenomenal Woman is a startlingly original work of philosophy. In her construction of a new metaphysics, which takes the woman as norm in definitions of self, personhood and identity, Christine Battersby contests the conceptualization of the Kantian subject. Taking the risk of (re)constructive philosophy, she offers a challenge to postmodernist feminisms and their reliance on what she describes as the 'despairing epistemology' of deconstructive postmodernism. Firmly grounded in the history of philosophy, Christine Battersby's book offers a new impetus and direction to feminists working in philosophy." Professor Margaret Whitford, University of London "In this philosophically rich text Christine Battersby moves issues of metaphysics and ontology to the centre stage of feminist concern, correcting a preoccupation with epistemology which has been dominant in feminist philosophy during the last decade. Whether we agree or disagree, this challenging book will now form the point from which future discussions of female subjects must depart." Dr Kathleen Lennon, University of Hull "Combining rigorous analysis with accessibility, Christine Battersby has set a new standard for discussion in feminist philosophy. This is a truly remarkable achievement." Joanna Hodge, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityTable of Contents1. Introduction: Fleshy Metaphysics. 2. Essentialisms, Feminisms and Metaphysics. 3. Her Body/Her Boundaries. 4. Kantian Metaphysics and the Sexed Self. 5. Feminist Postmodernism and the Metaphysics of Absence. 6. Antigones of Gender. 7. Flesh with Trimmings: Adorno and Difference. 8. Kierkegaard, Woman and the Workshop of Possibilities. 9. Scoring the Subject of Feminist Theory: Kierkegaard and Deleuze. 10. Coda. Notes. Bibliography. Index .
£999.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Sex and Death A Reappraisal of Human Mortality
Book SynopsisFor centuries people have debated the nature of the human self. Running beneath these various arguments lie three certainties -- we are born, reproduce sexually, and die.Trade Review"...[T]his book is passionate and temperate, thoughtful and bold. It is also beautifully written and a pleasure to read." Esther Reed, Reviews in Religion and Theology "All of us were born; all of us will die; all of us are sexual. Beverley Clack's new book takes an intelligent and thought-provoking look at these basic human realities, showing how spiritual meaning and physical reality conjoin. It is a wide-ranging and carefully argued book that makes unexpected and imaginative connections. It is also a book of compassionate humanity." Grace M. Jantzen, University of Manchester "Western accounts of the best human life have usually pictured masculine reason and will as battling to transcend and escape from nature, sex and death, and have been marked by a weirdly negative attitude especially for the female reproductive apparatus. Beverley Clack rejects that whole tradition and instead sees the good life as growing out of an acceptance of the body, transience, sex and death. She boldly tackles, not just Augustine and Freud, but also Sade, head-on. This is a vigorous and enjoyable study, and (of course) she's right." Don Cupitt, Emmanuel College, Cambridge "This is an engaging and thoughtful piece of work, convincing in its own terms"Elizabeth Stuart, Theology "...it [the book] leads readers to engage philosophically with arguments that have the potential to change their fundamental attitudes" Stan van Hooft, Philosophy in ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgments. Introduction. Chapter 1: Transcending Mortality: Plato's Philosophy and Augustine's Theology. Chapter 2: Transcending the Void: Sex and Death in Sartre and Beauvoir's Existentialism. Chapter 3: Eros, Thanatos and the Human Self: Sigmund Freud. Chapter 4 : Sex and Death in a Meaningless Universe: The Marquis de Sade. . Chapter 5: Living in Accordance with Nature: Seneca. Conclusion: Sex, Death, and the Meaningful Life. Notes. References and Bibliography. Index.
£49.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Philosophy of Nature
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Feyerabend was definitely one of the great thinkers of twentieth century philosophy."—Philosophy Now "Feyerabend famously quipped that the only rule of method is that anything goes. Philosophy of Nature sheds light on his transition from critical rationalist to epistemological anarchist. Ranging from Stonehenge and Homer to Bohr and Einstein, the book creatively explores the relations of mythological thought to philosophy and science."—Howard Sankey, University of Melbourne "In this book, we can see another side of this multi-faceted figure: Feyerabend as a historical philosopher of nature and as an analyst of the development of ancient Greek philosophy. This puts some of his apparently outrageous positions into perspective and reveals their sometimes quite sophisticated background."—Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Leibniz Universität HannoverTable of ContentsPaul Feyerabend, an Historical Philosopher of Nature vii Editorial Notes xxviii Paul Feyerabend: Philosophy of Nature 1 Preliminary Note 3 1. Presuppositions of Myths, and the Knowledge of their Inventors 5 1.1. Stone Age Art and Knowledge of Nature 9 1.2. Megalithic Astronomy (Stonehenge) 15 1.3. Critique of Primitivist Interpretations of the Prehistoric Era 22 1.4. The Dynamic Worldview of Stone Age Humans 26 2. The Structure and Function of Myths 34 2.1. Theories of Myth 36 2.2. The Theory of Nature Myths and Structuralism 46 3. Homer’s Aggregate Universe 50 3.1. The Paratactic World of Archaic Art 51 3.2. Worldview and Knowledge in Homer’s Epics 65 3.3. Views of Reality and the Language of Science: Some Basic Considerations 77 4. Transition to an Explicitly Conceptual Approach to Nature 87 4.1. The New World of the Philosophers: Advantages and Disadvantages 91 4.2. Historical Factors for the Emergence of Philosophy 96 4.3. Predecessors in Hesiod’s and Oriental Cosmogonies 104 5. Philosophy of Nature through Parmenides 113 5.1. Hesiod and Anaximander: Changing Worldviews 114 5.2. Xenophanes: Critic of Religion and Epistemologist 134 5.3. Parmenides: The Origins of Western Philosophy of Nature 147 6. Western Philosophy of Nature from Aristotle to Bohr 158 6.1. Aristotle’s Research Program 159 6.2. Descartes: The Mathematical Approach to Nature 169 6.3. Galileo, Bacon, Agrippa: Empiricism without Foundations 173 6.4. Hegel: The Dynamics of Concepts 185 6.5. Newton, Leibniz, Mach: Problems of Mechanism 192 6.6. Einstein, Bohr, Bohm: Signs of a New Era 197 7. Conclusion 205 Paul Feyerabend: Previously Unpublished Documents 209 Letter to Jack J. C. Smart, December 1963 211 Preparation (Request for a Sabbatical, 1977) 220 Report on 1980 Sabbatical 232 Bibliography 235 Index 250
£18.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd An Introduction to Ontology
Book SynopsisIn this engaging and wide-ranging new book, Nikk Effingham provides an introduction to contemporary ontology - the study of what exists - and its importance for philosophy today.Trade Review"An exciting, well-written, fun introduction to contemporary ontology."Choice Magazine"This is a delightful introduction, both to various ontological topics and to the general aims and methods of ontology itself. Effingham writes with an informal style and a lightness of touch that makes even the more esoteric and technical issues come alive, and the book is an instructive joy to read."Helen Beebee, University of Manchester"Nikk Effingham has done a terrific job - he provides fine, clear introductions to a range of important debates, woven through with methodological reflections, whilst his chatty, engaging style conveys the sheer pleasure of becoming an ontologist."Katherine Hawley, University of St AndrewsTable of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Chapter One: The Basics Chapter Two: Methodology Chapter Three: Properties Chapter Four: Numbers Chapter Five: Possible Worlds Chapter Six: Space Chapter Seven: Time Chapter Eight: Mereology Chapter Nine: Material Constitution Chapter Ten: Works of Music Bibliography
£49.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Probability
Book SynopsisWhen a doctor tells you there's a one percent chance that an operation will result in your death, or a scientist claims that his theory is probably true, what exactly does that mean? Understanding probability is clearly very important, if we are to make good theoretical and practical choices.Trade Review"This is a remarkable book in that, while using the absolute minimum of mathematics, it manages to explain all the main views in the philosophy of probability clearly and accurately. Indeed it covers some recent approaches on which active research is taking place at the moment." Donald Gillies, University College London "Easy and fun to read, this book is a thought-provoking introduction to a wide range of important theories and issues about the nature of probability." Timothy Williamson, University of OxfordTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Probability: A Two Faced Guide to Life? Chapter 2: The Classical Interpretation Chapter 3: The Logical Interpretation Chapter 4: The Subjective Interpretation Chapter 5: The Objective Bayesian Interpretation Chapter 6: Group Level Interpretations Chapter 7: The Frequency Interpretation Chapter 8: The Propensity Interpretation Chapter 9: Fallacies, Puzzles, and a Paradox Chapter 10: Interpreting Probability in the Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences Appendix A. The Axioms and Laws of Probability B. Bayes�s Theorem References
£45.00
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Probability
Book SynopsisWhen a doctor tells you there's a one percent chance that an operation will result in your death, or a scientist claims that his theory is probably true, what exactly does that mean? Understanding probability is clearly very important, if we are to make good theoretical and practical choices.Trade Review"This is a remarkable book in that, while using the absolute minimum of mathematics, it manages to explain all the main views in the philosophy of probability clearly and accurately. Indeed it covers some recent approaches on which active research is taking place at the moment." Donald Gillies, University College London "Easy and fun to read, this book is a thought-provoking introduction to a wide range of important theories and issues about the nature of probability." Timothy Williamson, University of OxfordTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Probability: A Two Faced Guide to Life? Chapter 2: The Classical Interpretation Chapter 3: The Logical Interpretation Chapter 4: The Subjective Interpretation Chapter 5: The Objective Bayesian Interpretation Chapter 6: Group Level Interpretations Chapter 7: The Frequency Interpretation Chapter 8: The Propensity Interpretation Chapter 9: Fallacies, Puzzles, and a Paradox Chapter 10: Interpreting Probability in the Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences Appendix A. The Axioms and Laws of Probability B. Bayes�s Theorem References
£15.19
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Being Essence and Substance in Plato and
Book SynopsisPaul Ricoeur (1913-2005) was one of the outstanding French philosophers of the 20th century and his work is widely read in the English-speaking world. This unique volume comprises the lectures that Ricoeur gave on Plato and Aristotle at the University of Strasbourg in 1953-54.Table of ContentsEditor’s IntroductionThe Goal and Plan of the CourseI. PlatoPart I: “True Being” or the IdeaIntroduction to Plato, Part IChapter 1 The Meaning of the Platonic “Eidos”Chapter 2 Essence and LanguageChapter 3 Science and EssenceI. “Opinion” as the Negative of ScienceChapter 4 Science and EssenceII. Right Opinion as “Intermediary”Chapter 5 Science and EssenceIII. The Mathematical “Intermediary”Chapter 6 Science and Essence (Conclusion)IV. The “Terminus” of Science: ContemplationPart II: The Idea of Being and Non-BeingIntroduction to Plato, Part IIChapter 1 The Question of Being in the ParmenidesChapter 2 The Success and Failures of Platonism in the SophistChapter 3 The Genesis of the Sensible in the TimaeusPart III Being and the “Divine”Introduction to Plato, Part IIIChapter 1 The Problem of the “Divine” and pre-Socratic PhilosophyChapter 2 The “Divine” in PlatoII. AristotleIntroduction to AristotlePart I: Being as BeingChapter 1 The “Genetic” Interpretation of Aristotle’s MetaphysicsChapter 2 Philosophy: Its Intention and Its MemoryChapter 3 Philosophy and Its “Aporias”Chapter 4 The Object of “First Philosophy”Part II: Being and SubstanceIntroduction to Aristotle, Part IIChapter 1 Sensible Substance: Substance as SubstrateChapter 2 Sensible Substance (continued): Substance as FormChapter 3 Substance and the IndividualChapter 4 “Separated” Substance
£18.04
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Ontology and Dialectics
Book SynopsisTrade Review‘Ontology and Dialectics is a work of the highest importance. These lectures allow us not only to gain a clearer understanding of Adorno’s critique of Heidegger but also to understand more fully the project of a German-Jewish thinker who, having returned to Germany after the Second World War, wonders if philosophy “after Auschwitz” is still possible. The course shows Adorno developing and assembling many of the major concepts that would inform the mature phase of his thinking, right up to his untimely death in August 1969.’Gerhard Richter, Brown University“Adorno’s wider remarks about heteronomous thinking and the inimical socio-political effects this can have are of vital importance.”Marx & Philosophy Review of BooksTable of Contents Contents Editor’s Foreword LECTURE 1: ‘What Being Really is’ Against the philosophy of standpoints and philosophical world views; the meaning of rigour in philosophy and the positive sciences – the plan of these lectures; immanent critique – ‘What being really is’; ontology as structural interconnection – the doctrine of being contra idealism and methodology – the concept of meaning; the being of beings; the meaning of being – being and essence – categorial intuition versus abstraction LECTURE 2: On Ontological Difference The structure of being and being itself; regional ontologies and fundamental ontology – on the problem of ontological difference (I) – ontic questions and ontological questions – questions concerning the meaning of being – question of origin as petitio principii – circular reasoning (I) – critique of origins – circular reasoning (II) – fusion of mysticism and the claim to rationality – historical dimension of ‘the question of being’ LECTURE 3: History of the Concept of Being Circular reasoning (III) – the unreflected ‘question of being’ – being in the Pre-Socratics, in Plato and Aristotle – experience of being is not ‘prior’; being as product of abstraction – being and thought in Parmenides; abstraction and vital powers not distinguished for archaic thought; the most ancient not the truest – philosophy and the particular sciences; dialectic of enlightenment; residual character of being – two kinds of truth LECTURE 4: Being and Language (I) Prehistory of the new ontologies: Franz Brentano; ontology as counter-enlightenment – a double front against realism and conceptualism – fundamental ontology as hermeneutics; being and language; nominalist critique of language – analysis of the concept of being; positivism and language – conceptuality as domination of nature; inadequacy of concept and thing; thing in itself and being – functional understanding of concepts; double sense of being as concept and anti-concept LECTURE 5: Being and Language (II) Ambiguity of the concept of being (I) – arbitrariness in concept formation; Kant versus Spinoza - ambiguity of the concept of being (II) – ambiguity of the concept of being (III) – subjectivity as constitutive for ontology – substantial character of language; borrowing from theology – on the analysis of language; obligations regarding linguistic form – the wavering character of being LECTURE 6: Separating Being and Beings Examples from antiquity; on Aristotle’s terminology; the priority of the tode ti – genesis and validity; Heidegger’s being as third possibility; on Heidegger’s concept of origin – archaic dimension of Heidegger’s ontology; against genetic explanation; phenomenology and history – phenomenological method; red and redness; the inference to being-in-itself in Scheler and Heidegger – Husserl’s return to transcendentalism LECTURE 7: Mind in relation to Beings ‘Priority’ as petitio principii – critique of the possibility of ontology; on Cartesian dualism – phenomenological reduction of the subject; objectivity of the second level; shutting out beings – philosophical compulsion for cleanliness – allergy towards beings; an aura borrowed from theology; the story of Snow White – ontology as counterpart to nominalism and positivism LECTURE 8: Ontologizing the Ontic (I) The subject-object division not permanent; fundamental ontology and the loss of tradition; the ‘unintelligibility of Heidegger – oblivion of the numinous; material stuff and abstraction in the Pre-Socratics – ontology or dialectics; ‘being’ as ‘the wholly other’ – critique as differentiation; original non-differentiation; Heidegger’s anti-intellectualism – against postponement –Heidegger’s trick: ontologizing the ontic LECTURE 9: Ontologizing the Ontic (II) Conceptualizing the non-conceptual; philosophy of being and idealism, Heidegger and Hegel – ontologizing existence – spurious appeal of the new; fascination through ignorance – subreption of the nominalized verb ‘being’ – Dasein as being and a being – ‘Be who you are!’ – eidetic science and ontology – subjectivity as the site of being LECTURE 10: Ontological Need Heidegger and Kant; Kant’s ultimate intention – Heidegger’s thought as the site of being; a diminished concept of subject: absence of labour and spontaneity – initial observations on the ontological need – a sociological interjection – the ‘elevated tone’; Heidegger’s language and Adorno’s great grandfather; fundamental ontology as index of a lack LECTURE 11: The Abdication of Philosophy On the sociology of the ontological need – philosophy and society; distracting effect of Marxism; the relevance of morality – philosophy and the natural sciences; philosophy and art – Kant’s abdication before God, freedom, and immortality – the ‘resurrection of metaphysics’; impotence of philosophy in the face of the essential – Schelling, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche LECTURE 12: The Relation to Kierkegaard Science versus philosophy; accepted heresies – an anti-academic academy – licensed audacity – relation to Kierkegaard – ‘subjectivity is truth’ – history of the concept of ontology LECTURE 13: Critique of Subjectivism The anti-subjectivism of modern ontology – the problem of relativism (I); how questions vanish – the problem of relativism (II); ‘to the things themselves’ – transcendental subjectivism and egoity – the acosmism of post-Kantian idealism; the unreason of the world - the crisis of subjectivity and the development of cosmology – critique of the domination of nature; fundamental ontology and dialectical materialism; changes in the concept of reason LECTURE 14: Hypostasizing the Question The crucial role of subjectivity in Heidegger’s early thought; Heidegger and Lukács – need and truth; question and answer Ð the philosophical structure of the question; hypostasis of the question in Heidegger – the question as surrogate answer; the mechanism of subreption – the ideology of ‘man’ LECTURE 15: Time, Being, Meaning ‘Man’, ‘tradition’, ‘life’: indices of loss – philosophy of existence and philosophy of life – labour and the consciousness of time; phenomenology of ‘wisdom’; loss of historical continuity, America – antiques business and abstract time; ontologizing the concept of substance – time and being as complementary concepts; disenchantment of the world and the creation of meaning – raiding poetry LECTURE 16: Ontology and Society Heidegger’s archaic language; feigned origins; primordial history and petit bourgeois mentality – social presuppositions of ontology – ontology as philosophical neo-classicism – impossibility of ontology today – Heidegger’s strategy; sympathy with barbarism – phenomenological caprice – ‘project’ LECTURE 17: Mythic Content Regression to mythology – fate and hybris in the concept of being = blindness, anxiety, death; relation to religion – National Socialism and the homeland; National Socialism and the relation to history – the indeterminacy of myth and the longing for the concrete; the most concrete as the most abstract – being as ‘itself’ LECTURE 18: The Purity and Immediacy of Being Tautological determination of being; purity in Husserl; scholasticism and empiricism in Brentano – the method of eidetic intuition – intuition and the a priori – on the concept of ontological difference (II) – purity and immediacy irreconcilable; conceptuality as the Fall – idle talk and the forgetfulness of being; the experience of being, the language of nature and music LECTURE 19: The Indeterminacy of Being Pro domo – indeterminacy as determination – the ‘overcoming’ of nihilism; being as ens realissimum - the question of constitution versus the priority of being; synthesis and the synthesized; the physiognomic gaze – the particular transparent to its universal – being – the meaning of being (I) LECTURE 20: Meaning of Being and the Copula The meaning of being (II) – ontology as prescription – protest against reification; the problem of relativism (III) – structure of the lectures – the copula (I) LECTURE 21: The Copula and the Question of Being The copula (II) – the copula (III) – no transcendence of being – the childish question; language and truth – the question of being (I); ‘authenticity’ and the decline of civilisation – the question of being (II); LECTURE 22: Being and Existence Heidegger’s turn; the concept of ontological difference (III) – the mythology of being; archaism – function of the concept of existence – ‘Dasein is ontological in itself’ – ‘existence’ as authoritarian – ‘historicity’ – against the ontology of the non-ontological – history as the medium of philosophy – critique LECTURE 23: The Concept of Negative Dialectic ‘Peep hole metaphysics’ and negative dialectics - Left Hegelianism and the ban on images – priority of the object – reversing the subjective reduction – interpreting the transcendental – ‘transcendental illusion’; against hierarchy Editor’s Notes Index
£18.04
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Postmetaphysical Thinking II
Book SynopsisThere is no alternative to postmetaphysical thinking : this statement, made by Jurgen Habermas in 1988, has lost none of its relevance.Trade Review"This new volume is a remarkable example of a lifework that is still very much a work in progress. It covers a rich variety of topics, honing in particularly on the meaning of religion in public life." —Die ZeitTable of ContentsContents Linguistification of the Sacred. In Place of a Preface I The Lifeworld as a Space of Reasons 1. From Worldviews to the Lifeworld 2. The Lifeworld as a Space of Symbolically Embodied Reasons 3. A Hypothesis concerning the Evolutionary Meaning of Rites II Postmetaphysical Thinking 4. The New Philosophical Interest in Religion. An Conversation with Eduardo Mendieta 5. Religion and Postmetaphysical Thinking: A Reply 6. A Symposium on Faith and Knowledge: Reply to Objections, Response to Suggestions III Politics and Religion 7. �The Political�: The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology 8. The �Good Life� Ð a �Detestable Phrase�: The Significance of the Young Rawls�s Religious Ethics for His Political Theory 9. Rawls�s Political Liberalism: Reply to the Resumption of a Discussion 10. Religion in the Public Sphere of �Post-Secular� Society Sources of the Texts Notes Index
£17.09
University of British Columbia Press Tsawalk
Book SynopsisThis book explores the Nuu-chah-nulth understanding of the universe as an integrated and orderly whole, providing a viable theoretical alternative that both complements and expands the view of reality presented by Western science.Trade ReviewIt provides a holistic, spiritual perspective, in contrast to the objective, Cartesian perspective of western science. Atleo argues, successfully I believe, that this spiritual view of nature is in many ways superior to the western disenchantment of the world. This book is one that will be valuable for scholars of the Northwest Coast, traditional ecological knowledge, and indigenous intellectuals. As well, it will probably fine a popular audience among those interested in First Nations, environmentalism, and, of course, New Age philosophy. -- Michael Harkin, University of Wyoming * Journal of Anthropological Research, Spring 2005 *Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview is simultaneously at the cutting edge of social philosophy and steeped in mythic reality. Through a translation of Nuu-chah-nulth origin stories, Atleo elucidates the ontological perspective of these people from the West Coast of Canada. He successfully demonstrates the linkages that the core belief of Tsawalk, everything is one, has with quantum physics, weather patterns, and postmodern theory, among other things. This holistic concept is the lynch pin (and namesake) of the book, incorporating Euro-American ideas and methods into Nuu-chah-nulth ontology. Although the majority of the book is dedicated to the retelling of ancient myths and their analysis, Atleo is explicitly trying to instigate a new research pattern based on a realization of Tsawalk in the academy. Tsawalk is an archetype of cutting edge social research – it is biographical, focuses on ontology, is culturally relative, and deconstructionist. Brining Atleo’s particular perspective into this milieu provides a fascinating encounter. In the specific context of politics in colonial states, and the mushrooming of interest in indigenous politics, Tsawalk provides a means of opening a new dialogue between colonizers and the colonized. -- Andreas Krebs * IN-SPIRE *Table of ContentsPrologueAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Development of an Indigenous Theory1 Tsawalk * Origin Tales and the Nature of Reality: How Son of Raven Captured the Day2 Utl-cla * He-xwa: The Struggle for Balance3 Xaata-tsa * Thluch-ha: Getting Married4 Muu * Quis-hai-cheelth: One Who Transforms5 Suh-tcha * Thlawk-thlawk-qua: A Humble Petition6 Nuu-Pooh * Tloo-utl-ish-sum: Remember Me7 Utl-Pooh * Heshook-ish Tsawalk: Everything Is OneEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex
£25.19
University of British Columbia Press Science of the Seance
Book SynopsisIn this enthralling study of the ethereal, the scientific, and the strange, Beth A. Robertson investigates the gendered world of the seance, a place where self-proclaimed “psychic researchers” laid claim to objectivity and where spiritual mediums and the spirits they channeled resisted their methods.Trade ReviewWhile there has been a considerable academic interest in Victorian Spiritualism and séance room phenomena, the 1918–1939 period has been less well served. Beth Robertson’s Science of the Seance helps to redress that imbalance ... [S]he provides a useful introduction to some of the work exploring the boundary between this world and the next in the period. -- Tom Ruffles * Fortean Times *It’s a rare treat when I get to indulge my interest in the paranormal through such a well-researched and argued work as Beth A. Robertson’s Science of the Seance … it will appeal not only to those studying the paranormal, but also to scholars of technology, gender, and sexuality, and those who are interested in the origins of new sciences and the construction of knowledge ... It takes its subject matter seriously (which shouldn’t be underestimated), and makes far-reaching conclusions that cross disciplinary boundaries. It draws together a number of seemingly disparate threads into a concise framework that, for me, transformed how I thought about paranormal research. I look forward to more work like this. -- Matthew Hayes, The Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, Trent University * American Review of Canadian Studies *In this provocative book, Robertson contends that the study of mediumship impacted both empirical methods and gender studies … A major contribution of this work is its description of how women, both as participants and researchers, debunked the stereotype that had linked femininity with “intellectual ineptitude.” Robertson’s work can serve as a model for further inquiries on the contributions psychical research can make to scholarship, methodology, and philosophy. -- S. Krippner, Saybrook University * CHOICE *Table of ContentsGroping in the Dark: An Introduction1 The “Scientific Self ”: Performative Masculinity in the Psychical Laboratory2 Otherworldly Subjects: Mediums and Spirits3 A Touch of the Uncanny: Sensing a Material Otherworld4 The Qualities of Quartz: Technology, Inscriptions, and Mechanizing Vision5 Fragments of a Spectral Self: Psychology, Medicine, and Aberrant Souls6 Teleplasmic Mechanics: Spirit Scientists and Vital TechnologiesThe Knot Unravelled: An EpilogueNotes; Bibliography
£25.19
Cornell University Press Being and Goodness The Concept of the Good in
Book SynopsisIn exploring this tradition of philosophical reflection on the nature of goodness, the twelve essays in this book (all but two published here for the first time) present some of the best recent historical scholarship in...
£45.00
Cornell University Press Real Knowing New Versions of the Coherence Theory
Book Synopsis"Real" knowing always involves a political dimension, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests. But this does not mean we need to give up realism or the possibility of truth. Recent work in continental philosophy insists on the influence that power and desire...Trade ReviewA truly impressive scholarly achievement. For those who are interested in seeing how Gadamer and Foucault connect with Davidson and Putnam, Real Knowing is a rewarding and illuminating read. -- Matthias Steup * Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *This is a timely contribution to a fast-growing body of research in 'social epistemology,' a field drawing the attention of philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, social constructionists, and others. -- James Wong * Hypatia *
£45.00
Cornell University Press The Metaphysics of Beauty
Book SynopsisIn chapters ranging from "The Beautiful, the Dainty, and the Dumpy" to "Skin-deep or In the Eye of the Beholder?" Nick Zangwill investigates the nature of beauty as we conceive it, and as it is in itself. The notion of beauty is currently attracting...Trade ReviewThe core of aesthetics—at least when distinguished from the philosophy of art or criticism—is the study of beauty and the aesthetic experience. This is a fascinating but difficult part of the subject. Nick Zangwill has, as he says, been thinking about the topic for about a decade.... It is to the author's credit that he has given us a book packed with argument and insight, which is bound to open up new areas of enquiry in the area. -- Derek Matravers, The Open University * British Journal of Aesthetic *The book touches on an impressive range of topics in analytic aesthetics.... Throughout, Zangwill confronts the best of philosophical aesthetics in an engaging and honest style. When he is uneasy with his own views he says so, and he is not above occasionally admitting that his opponents are right. That said, Zangwill spends most of the book arguing iconoclastically and inventively against philosophical orthodoxy. Zangwill brings thoroughness, erudition and insight... to each of the issues he tackles.... The Metaphysics of Beauty as a stimulating and spirited tour through many of the central issues of contemporary aesthetics, is clear testament to the vibrancy of that tradition. -- Glenn Parsons, University of Toronto * Philosophy in Review *Zangwill has written a book which seeks, in part at least, to restore beauty to a primary place in aesthetic theory.... His project is quite ambitious. And Zangwill delivers. The book is enjoyable to read and offers an interesting alternative view of aesthetic value.... He writes with a clear, straightforward, and engaging style. The book is well researched. I enjoyed reading it, and I believe anyone interested in contemporary issues in aesthetics will find the book very rewarding. -- Julia Driver, Dartmouth College * Australasian Journal of Philosophy *
£57.60
Cornell University Press Paradigms for a Metaphorology
Book SynopsisWhat role do metaphors play in philosophical language? Are they impediments to clear thinking that should be eradicated in the interests of terminological exactness? Or can they be used by philosophers to indicate the attitudes that regulate an epoch?Trade ReviewParadigms for a Metaphorology is a model of scholarly translation. Savage's handling of citations and sources is scrupulous and thorough.... And he provides judicious explanatory notes that work in conjunction with the afterword and Blumenberg's own notes to guide readers through Blumenberg's own reading and career. Finally, and most importantly, his English rendering is consistently accurate while also being, in the context of translations of German philosophy, remarkably readable.... In short, readers approaching Blumenberg's reflections on metaphor through the English language could not ask for a more reliable and helpful guide than this volume. -- David Adams * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsHans Blumenberg: An Introduction Part I: History, Secularization, and Reality 1. The Linguistic Reality of Philosophy (1946/1947) 2. World Pictures and World Models (1961) 3. "Secularization": Critique of a Category of Hisotrical Illegitimacy (1964) 4. The Concept of Reality and the Theory of the State (1968/1969) 5. Preliminary Remarks on the Concept of Reality (1974) Part II: Metaphors, Rhetoric, and Nonconceptuality 6. Light as a Metaphor for Truth: At the Preliminary Stage of Philosophical Concept Formation (1957) 7. Introduction to Paradigms for a Metaphorology (1960) 8. An Anthropological Approach to the Contemporary Significance of Rhetoric (1971) 9. Observations Drawn from Metaphors (1971) 10. Prospect for a Theory of Nonconceptuality (1979) 11. Theory of Nonconceptuality (circa 1975, excerpt) Part III: Nature, Technology, and Asthetics 12. The Relationship between Nature and Technology as a Philosophical Problem (1951) 13. "Imitation of Nature": Toward a Prehistory of the Idea of the Creative Being (1957) 14. Phenomenological Aspects on Life-World and Technization (1963) 15. Socrates and the objet ambigu: Paul Valery's Discussion of the Ontology of the Aesthetic Object and Its Tradition (1964) 16. The Essential Ambiguity of the Aesthetic Object (1966) 17. Speech Situation and Immanent Poetics (1966) Part IV: Fables, Anecdotes, and the Novel 18. The Absolute Father (1952/1953) 19. The Mythos and Ethos of America in the Work of William Faulkner (1958) 20. The Concept of Reality and the Possibility of the Novel (1964) 21. Pensiveness (1980) 22. Moments of Goethe (1982) 23. Beyond the Edge of Reality: Three Short Essays (1983) 24. Of Nonunderstanding: Glosses on Three Fables (1984) 25. Unknown Aesopica: From Newly Found Fables (1985) 26. Advancing into Eternal Silence: A Century after the Sailing of the Fram (1993)
£32.30
Cornell University Press Real Knowing
Book Synopsis"Real" knowing always involves a political dimension, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests. But this does not mean we need to give up realism or the possibility of truth. Recent work in continental philosophy insists on the influence that power and desire...Trade ReviewA truly impressive scholarly achievement. For those who are interested in seeing how Gadamer and Foucault connect with Davidson and Putnam, Real Knowing is a rewarding and illuminating read. -- Matthias Steup * Philosophy and Phenomenological Research *This is a timely contribution to a fast-growing body of research in 'social epistemology,' a field drawing the attention of philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, social constructionists, and others. -- James Wong * Hypatia *
£29.45
Cornell University Press Primary Ousia
Book SynopsisMichael J. Loux here presents a fresh reading of two of the most important books of the Metaphysics, Books Z and H, in which Aristotle presents his mature theory of primary substances (ousiai). Focusing on the interplay of Aristotle's early and late...Trade ReviewLoux's investigation of the difficult central books of Aristotle's Metaphysics is clearly the result of a sustained, minute study of the text.... It offers a sensitive, carefully crafted interpretation of Aristotle's mature theory of substance. * Choice *Primary Ousia should be read by everyone with a serious interest in Aristotle. Its sharp focus and straightforward style will be appreciated by students seeking guidance through the tangled thickets of Metaphysics Z and H. Scholars will be rewarded by its detailed arguments and its careful consideration of alternative views. * The Philosophical Review *This work clearly makes a highly significant contribution to the study of Books Z and H, the center of Aristotle's Metaphysics. * Mind *
£24.80
Cornell University Press Substances and Universals in Aristotles
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewScaltsas has written an extended and powerful treatment of some of the deepest and most puzzling features of Aristotelian metaphysics, producing an interpretation that covers a wide range not only of Aristotelian material but also of Platonic material. He offers detailed critiques of the views of various modern commentators as well as of philosophers. Scaltsas has made an important and original contribution to our interpretation of Metaphysics. * Philosophical Quarterly *Table of ContentsThe ThemeI. Matter 1. Physical Continuity in Change 2. Radical Transformation 3. Against Hot, Cold, Wet, and Dry Stuff 4. Quantity of Matter: Soma 5. The Essence of MatterII. Universals 1. The Rejection of the Platonic Forms 2. Existential Arguments for Aristotelian Forms 3. The Universality of the Material SubstratumIII. The Birth of the Subject 1. Plato's Discovery of the Subject 2. The "Nature-Feature" Problem 3. Does Participation Presuppose a Partaker?IV: The Substantial Form 1. A Substance and Its Parts: Plato's Legacy 2. The Aggregate Argument 3. Is the Substantial Form a Relation? 4. The Threshold Argument 5. The Trope-Overlap Argument 6. Structural Universals and Substantial Forms 7. The Aristotelian Solution to Davis Lewis's Paradox 8. Universality Requirements on the Substantial FormV. The Unity of Substance 1. Abstraction and Separateness 2. Types of Abstract Entity 3. The Metaphysics of Abstraction: The Unity of Matter and Form in a Substance 4. An Existential Dilemma about Matter and FormVI. Particulars 1. Nonmaterial Substances 2. Particularity and Subjecthood 3. Essence as Subject: The "Second Man" Argument 4. Particularity of Nonmaterial Substances 5. Particularity of Material Substances: How Similar Can Different Substances Be? 6. Substantial Holism 7. Kit Fine's Paradox on the Identity of Aristotelian SubstancesVII. The Zeta Contradictions 1. The Contradictions 2. The Consistent Zeta Picture 3. Self-Caused Unities 4. Potentiality Entails Homonymy 5. Is the Substantial Form of a Substance Numerically One?Conclusion: Revisiting the Zeta ContradictionsAppendix 1: Live Matter Appendix 2: Against Bare Substrata Appendix 3: Against Individual Forms Appendix 4: The Argument of Metaphysics M, 10Bibliography Index Locorum General Index
£29.60
Cornell University Press Substance and Essence in Aristotle
Book SynopsisSubstance and Essence in Aristotle is a close study of Aristotle's most profound—and perplexing—treatise: Books VII-IX of the Metaphysics. These central books, which focus on the nature of substance, have gained a deserved reputation for their difficulty, inconclusiveness, and internal inconsistency. Despite these problems, Witt extracts from...
£28.49
Cornell University Press A Realist Conception of Truth
Book SynopsisOne of the most important Anglo-American philosophers of our time here joins the current philosophical debate about the nature of truth. William P. Alston formulates and defends a realist conception of truth, which he calls alethic realism (from aletheia, Greek for truth). This idea holds that the truth value of a statement (belief or proposition) depends on whether what the statement is about is as the statement says it is. Michael Dummett and Hilary Putnam are two of the prominent and widely influential contemporary philosophers whose anti-realist ideas Alston attacks.Trade ReviewMuch in this book deserves agreement and applause; it is argued with care, subtlety, and good sense. * The Journal of Philosophy *Alston's book makes a distinguished contribution to thought about truth, both in its positive proposal and in its sustained criticism of epistemic conceptions.... His book is mandatory reading for anyone with even a slight interest in truth. * The Philosophical Review *From the standpoint of both general readers and professionals in the field this may be one of the best philosophical books to come along in some time.... The depth, the scope, and the clarity of Alston's analysis is matched only by that of the great philosophers with whom he contends. Highest recommendation for all collections. * Choice *This excellent, ludidly written study contains many valuable insights. * Erkenntnis *
£29.45
MB - Cornell University Press Becomings
Book SynopsisWith the advent of the new millennium, the notion of the future, and of time in general, has taken on greater significance in postmodern thought. Although the equally pervasive and abstract concept of space has generated a vast body of disciplines, time, and the related idea of becoming (transforming, mutating, and metamorphosing) have until now received little theoretical attention. This volume explores the ontological, epistemic, and political implications of rethinking time as a dynamic and irreversible force. Drawing on ideas from the natural sciences, as well as from literature, philosophy, politics, and cultural analyses, its authors seek to stimulate further research in both the sciences and the humanities which highlights the temporal foundations of matter and culture.The first section of the volume, The Becoming of the World, provides a broad introduction to the concepts of time. The second section, Knowing and Doing Otherwise, addresses the forces within cultTrade ReviewBecomings is a tightly integrated and very exciting collection of essays by a group of careful and highly gifted scholars from several disciplines... This book should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in Bergson and it should be a high priority for anyone interested in Deleuze....It is a book for anyone who is truly interested in philosophy. -- Ladelle McWhorter, University of Richmond * The Journal of Speculative Philosophy *
£999.99
Cornell University Press God and Other Minds
Book Synopsis
£20.39
Stanford University Press The Metaphysics of Death Stanford Series in
Book SynopsisThis collection of seventeen essays deals with the metaphysical, as opposed to the moral, issues pertaining to death. For example, the authors investigate (among other things) the issue of what makes death a bad thing for an individual, if indeed death is a bad thing.Trade Review"The great variety of viewpoints contained in this book make it a pleasure to read and study, full as it is of intelligent, sometimes brilliant, occasionally infuriating, but always stimulating arguments. It provides the reader with a fairly comprehensive survey of recent developments in the debate on the value of existence and the evil of death-as-non existence and as such it is certainly recommended." -- Canadian Philosophical Reviews"This book immediately becomes the most convenient source for recent writings that confront some of the more abstract aspects of the problem of death. Those possessed by philosophical curiosity but pressed for time must be grateful to Fischer for making these contributions so readily available. By and large, the authors are skillful communicators and, on occasion, advance their theses with playfulness and wit."–Omega"A balanced collection of 17 contemporary essays on something everyone needs to think about. . . . [Any] reader is bound to learn to think somewhat more clearly about what lies ahead." -- The Key ReporterTable of ContentsContributors; 1. Introduction: death, metaphysics, and morality John Martin Fischer; 2. Death Knocks Woody Allen; 3. Rationality and the fear of death Jeffrie G. Murphy; 4. Death Thomas Nagel; 5. The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality Bernard Williams; 6. The evil of death Harry S. Silverstein; 7. How to be dead and not care: a defense of epicurus Stephen E. Rosenbaum; 8. The dead Palle Yourgrau; 9. The misfortunes of the dead George Pitcher; 10. Harm to others Joel Feinberg; 11. Reasons and persons Derek Parfit; 12. Why is death bad? Anthony L. Brueckner and John Martin Fischer; 13. Death and the value of life Jeff McMahan; 14. Annihilation Steven Luper-Foy; 15. Epicurus and annihilation Stephen E. Rosenbaum; 16. Some puzzles about the evil of death Fred Feldman; 17. Well-being and time J. David Velleman; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
£28.80
Stanford University Press The Birth to Presence Meridian Crossing
Book SynopsisThe central problem posed in these essays, collected from over a decade, is how in the wake of Western ontologies to conceive the coming, the birth that characterizes being. The author discusses being and representation in relation to Hegel, Schlegel, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Freud, and Heidegger.
£25.19
Stanford University Press Culture of Accidents Unexpected Knowledges in
Book SynopsisDrawing on intellectual history, cultural criticism, and rhetorical theory, this book chronicles the narrative transformation of "accidents"—whether collapsing buildings, unexpected meetings in the marketplace, monstrous births, or pirate attacks—from a philosophical dead end to an occasion for revelation and wonder in early modern religious life, dramatic practice, and experimental philosophy.Trade Review"Michael Witmore (Carnegie Mellon) has given us an extraordinary, erudite book (with full attention to Aristotelian, Scholastic, and Calvinist world views as challenged by chance, monstrous births, and other unexpected occurrences). His book fills a felt need and is sure to be a classic." -- BHR
£59.50
Louisiana State University Press The Professor of Forgetting
Book SynopsisA new collection from the acclaimed Irish poet Greg Delanty, The Professor of Forgetting swings back and forth on the fulcrum of what we call ‘""now’ and confronts our notion of how time passes.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR GREG DELANTY“A true poet.” - Christopher Ricks, Guardian“Everywhere he unleashes unbounded energy and upbeat cheer.” - F. D. Reeve, Poetry“Delanty writes poems that are wordily appealing in the way that Hopkins or late Auden appeal.” - Peter Reading, Times Literary Supplement“The poet laureate of the contemporary Irish-in-America. Delanty has catalogued an entire generation and its relationship to exile. He is the laureate of those who have gone.” - Colum McCann, Irish Times“The poet laureate of the contemporary Irish-in-America. Delanty has catalogued an entire generation and its relationship to exile. He is the laureate of those who have gone.” - Colum McCann, Irish Times
£15.15
Northwestern University Press Hermeneutics and Truth
Book SynopsisA volume of essays which addresses the roles of truth and interpretation in the shaping of human thought.Table of ContentsIs there truth after interpretation?, Brice Wachterhauser; truth in the human sciences, Hans-Georg Gadamer; What is truth?, Hans-Georg Gadamer; the experience of truth for Gadamer and Heidegger - taking time and sudden lightning, Robert J. Dostal; on the ground of understanding Rudiger Bubner; Heidegger's idea of truth, Ernst Tugendhat; emanation, incarnation and the truth-event in Gadamer's ""Truth and Method"", David Carpenter; the remembrance of truth - the truth of remembrance, James Risser; Gadamer's realism - the ""belongingness"" of word and reality. Brice R. Wachterhauser; understanding truth and objectivity - a dialogue between Donald Davidson and Hans-Georg Gadamer, Karsten R. Stueber; world-picture and conscience, Josef Simon; hermeneutics, tradition, and the standpoint of women, George Warnke.
£999.99
Northwestern University Press Ethical Implications of Heideggers Being and Time
Book SynopsisAn investigation of Heidegger's philosophy of the I and the We.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Fundamental ontology as a ""fundamental ethics""; Heidegger's critique of morality: the inauthenticity of the morally conscientious individual; The existentialist interpretation: authentic being-unto-death and the authority of the individual; The historicist interpretation: authentic historicality and the authority of tradition; The cosmopolitan interpretation: authentic being-with-others and the authority of the other person; Is fundamental ontology morally nihilistic?
£999.99
Northwestern University Press La Nature
Book SynopsisCollected in this text are the written notes of courses on the concept of nature give by Merleau-Ponty at the College de France in the 1950s. The ideas that animated the philosopher's lectures emerge in an early, fluid form in the process of being elaborated, negotiated, critiqued and reconsidered.
£22.36
Northwestern University Press Difference and Givenness Deleuzes Transcendental
Book SynopsisThrough an examination of Gilles Deleuze's independent work - focusing especially on Difference and Repetition - as well as his engagement with thinkers such as Kant, Maimon, Bergson, and Simondon, this title aims to unearth Deleuze's transcendental empiricism and to show how it differs from transcendental idealism, and absolute idealism.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; 1. EMPIRICISM AND THE SEARCH FOR THE CONDITIONS OF REAL EXPERIENCE; 2. BERGSONIAN INTUITION AND INTERNAL DIFFERENCE; 3. TRANSCENDENTAL EMPIRICISM: THE IMAGE OF THOUGHT AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE ENCOUNTER; 4. FIRST MOMENT OF THE ENCOUNTER: THE SENTIENDUM; 5. SECOND MOMENT OF THE ENCOUNTER: THE MEMORANDIUM; 6. THIRD MOMEMENT OF THE ENCOUNTER: THE COGITANDUM; 7. OVERCOMING SPECULATIVE DOGMATISM: TIME AND THE TRANSCENDENTAL FIELD; 8. INDIVIDUATION: THE GENESIS OF EXTENSITIES AND THE STRUCTURE-OTHER; CONCLUSION; REFERENCE MATTER.
£999.99
Northwestern University Press Being and God A Systematic Approach in
Book SynopsisArgues that defensible philosophical theorization concerning the topic God' is both possible and necessary within the framework of an adequate systematic philosophy - which must include a theory of Being - but is not possible in the absence of such a framework. The book provides critiques of philosophical approaches to this topic that have not relied on such frameworks.
£31.96
Northwestern University Press MerleauPontys Developmental Ontology
Book SynopsisShows how the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, from its very beginnings, seeks to find sense or meaning within nature, and how this quest calls for and develops into a radically new ontology. This makes key issues in Merleau-Ponty's philosophy clear and accessible to a broad audience while also advancing original philosophical conclusions.
£74.25
The Catholic University of America Press Theology Needs Philosophy Acting against Reason
Book SynopsisBrings together essays by leading theologians and philosophers on the fundamental importance of human reason and philosophy for Catholic theology and human cultures generally. This edited collection studies the contributions of reason, with its acquired wisdom, science, and scholarship, in five sections.
£52.50
University of Minnesota Press Capital Times
Book SynopsisTime is money, Benjamin Franklin once said, and in a reading of European philosophy, this text shows how true this adage is. A history of philosophy of time, this work attempts to unravel the theoretical frameworks that have given time its shape in Western civilization.
£21.59
Duke University Press Politics Metaphysics and Death
Book SynopsisA collection of essays by political theorists on Agamben's Homo Sacer.Trade Review“Politics, Metaphysics, and Death provides the most lucid and penetrating accounts available of the political thought of Italy’s most influential philosopher. Agamben’s engagement with the complex entanglement of modernity and the tradition, the contributors to this volume show, cannot be ignored by anyone who would face up to the demands now placed by politics on political theory.”—Frederick M. Dolan, author of Allegories of America: Narratives, Metaphysics, Politics“Andrew Norris and the contributors to this collection have not only performed extraordinary feats of textual exegesis but also produced a critical context and set of arguments with and concerning Agamben’s theory of sovereignty which will provide the starting point for all future study on his political thought.”—Thomas Dumm, author of A Politics of the OrdinaryTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Introduction: Giorgio Agamben and the Politics of the Living Dead / Andrew Norris 1 Au Hasard / Thomas Carl Wall 31 Bare Sovereignty: Homo Sacer and the Insistence of Law / Peter Fitzpatrick S/Citing the Camp / Erik Vogt 74 The Sovereign Weaver: Beyond the Camp / Andreas Kalyvas 107 Anagrammatics of Violence: The Benjaminian Ground of Homo Sacer / Anselm Haverkamp 135 Spaceing as the Shared: Heraclitus, Pindar, Agamben / Andrew Benjamin 145 Cutting the Branches of Akiba: Agamben’s Critique of Derrida / Adam Thurschwell 173 Linguistic Survival and Ethnicality: Biopolitics, Subjectivication, and Testimony in Remnants of Auschwitz / Catherine Mills 198 Supposing the Impossibility of Silence and of Sound, of Voice: Bataille, Agamben, and the Holocaust / Paul Hegarty 222 Law of Life / Rainer Maria Kiesow 248 The Exemplary Exception: Philosophical and Political Decisions in Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer / Andrew Norris 262 The State of Exception / Giorgio Agamben 284 Contributors 299 Index 301
£25.19
Fordham University Press Explorations in Whiteheads Philosophy
Book Synopsis
£31.50
Fordham University Press The Metaphysics of Edmund Burke
Book Synopsis
£29.45
