Description
Book SynopsisThis is the third and final volume of A System of Pragmatic Idealism, a series that will synthesize the life's work of the philosopher Nicholas Rescher. Rescher's numerous books and articles, which address almost every major philosophical topic, reflect a unified approach: the combination of pragmatism and idealism characteristic of his thinking th
Trade Review"The approach of Rescher to the activity of doing philosophy is that of doing it in the grand manner... A System of Pragmatic Idealism is Rescher's attempt to present an overall and comprehensive philosophy of science."--Phenomenology and the Human Sciences
Table of ContentsList of Displays ix Preface xi Introduction xiii PART I: THE PROJECT OF PHILOSOPHIZING One The Mission of Philosophy 3 Two The Holistic Nature of Philosophy 17 Three Philosophical Methodology 36 PART II: EXPERIENCE AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES Four Conceptual Schemes and Philosophical Pluralism 61 Five Can Different Thinkers Debate the Same Issues? 79 Six Against Exotic Hypotheses: The Need for Consulting Experience 89 Seven Philosophical Standardism 104 Eight Experiential Perspectivism in Philosophy 120 Nine The History of Philosophical Taxonomy as Evidence for Empiricism 135 PART III: AGAINST PHILOSOPHICAL RELATIVISM Ten Dispensing with Consensus: Pluralism in Philosophy 155 Eleven Philosophy in Process 168 Twelve On Classifying Metaphysical Positions: A Case Study in Pluralism 182 Thirteen Reactions to Pluralism 195 Fourteen Rejecting Philosophical Relativism 224 Appendix Pragmatic Idealism: A Schematic Sketch of the Overall Position 251 Bibliography 257 Name Index 263 Subject Index 267
