Description
Book SynopsisPresents the history of analytic philosophy since 1900. This book argues that two developments have remade the philosophical landscape - analytic philosophers' success in understanding and distinguishing the notions of logical truth, and acceptance of the idea that philosophical speculation must be grounded in prephilosophical thought.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2003 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "I know of no sustained philosophical work that is as clear, deep, and incisive as these two volumes. There are several other excellent books on twentieth-century analytic philosophy, but Soames's is likely to become the standard. His ability to reconstruct arguments, to fill in inchoate arguments, and to detect what may have motivated or underlain some philosopher's position is amazing... These are superb volumes by a superb philosopher."--A. P. Martinich, Journal of the History of Philosophy "The writing and the organization are admirably clear and straightforward, exhibiting many of the virtues Soames claims for the tradition as a whole... It is hard to imagine another work being produced which would deliver so much solid information on this dense and difficult subject matter in such easy form."--Charles T. Mathewes, Virginia Quarterly Review "Because of its combination of sympathetic, illuminating exposition of the central doctrines and arguments of the analytic tradition and the hard-nosed critical evaluation to which they are subjected, this will surely be the standard history of analytic philosophy for many years to come."--Choice Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century is a marvelous introduction to analytic philosophy. The two volumes unfold as a series of studies of some of the most important and influential philosophers in the analytic tradition... It is a philosopher's history of analytic philosophy, with a careful and critical assessment of ideas about truth, morality, logic, mind, and meaning."--Alex Byrne and Ned Hall, Boston Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Introduction to Volume 2 xiii PART ONE: LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN'S PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 1 CHAPTER 1 Rejection of the Tractarian Conception of Language and Analysis 3 CHAPTER 2 Rule Following and the Private Language Argument 32 Suggested Further Reading 62 PART TWO: CLASSICS OF ORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY: TRUTH, GOODNESS, THE MIND, AND ANALYSIS 65 CHAPTER 3 Ryle's Dilemmas 67 CHAPTER 4 Ryle's Concept of Mind 92 CHAPTER 5 Strawson's Performative Theory of Truth 115 CHAPTER 6 Hare's Performative Theory of Goodness 135 Suggested Further Reading 153 PART THREE: MORE CLASSICS OF ORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY: THE RESPONSE TO RADICAL SKEPTICISM 155 CHAPTER 7 Malcolm's Paradigm Case Argument 157 CHAPTER 8 Austin's Sense and Sensibilia 171 Suggested Further Reading 193 PART FOUR: PAUL GRICE AND THE END OF ORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY 195 CHAPTER 9 Language Use and the Logic of Conversation 197 Suggested Further Reading 219 PART FIVE: THE PHILOSOPHICAL NATURALISM OF WILLARD VAN ORMAN QUINE 221 CHAPTER 10 The Indeterminacy of Translation 223 CHAPTER 11 Quine's Radical Semantic Eliminativism 259 Suggested Further Reading 287 PART SIX: DONALD DAVIDSON ON TRUTH AND MEANING 289 CHAPTER 12 Theories of Truth as Theories of Meaning 291 CHAPTER 13 Truth, Interpretation, and the Alleged Unintelligibility of Alternative Conceptual Schemes 312 Suggested Further Reading 331 PART SEVEN: SAUL KRIPKE ON NAMING AND NECESSITY 333 CHAPTER 14 Names, Essence, and Possibility 335 CHAPTER 15 The Necessary Aposteriori 372 CHAPTER 16 The Contingent Apriori 397 CHAPTER 17 Natural Kind Terms and Theoretical Identification Statements 423 Suggested Further Reading 457 EPILOGUE The Era of Specialization 461 Index 477
