Description
Book SynopsisThe goal of philosophers is truth, but for a century or more they have been bothered by Nietzsche's question, What is the good of truth? Barry Allen shows what truth has come to mean in the philosophical tradition, what is wrong with many conceptions of truth, and why philosophers refuse to confront squarely the question of the value of truth.
Trade ReviewTwo related yet distinct questions are the central ostensible concerns of this book: what is the objection to a correspondence theory of truth?; why—if we should—should we consider truth to be the ultimate value? These questions are considered in the light of the work of six philosophers: Nietzsche; William James; Heidegger; Derrida; Wittgenstein; and Foucault… [A] thoroughly interesting and valuable book. -- Hugh V. McLachlan * The Philosopher *
A good, provocative, and important book. It explains the views of a set of important continental philosophers in a way that will be accessible to students… At the same time, this is not an attempt to sugarcoat continental philosophy for analytic consumption. The views Allen defends—clearly and effectively—are views that I myself am committed to combatting and that I am certain most analytic philosophers will want to combat. But that is all the more reason for reading this book. -- Hilary Putnam, Harvard University
Truth in Philosophy does an excellent job explaining that there is in recent continental philosophy (Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, and Foucault) a viable theory of truth. Allen’s book has the additional virtue of providing this explanation against a remarkably clear account of the historical background of the ancient Greek and early modern theories of truth criticized by the late-modern and post-modern continental thinkers. -- David Hoy, University of California, Santa Cruz
Table of ContentsAbbreviations Prologue Part 1: Historical Introduction 1. Classical Philosophy of Truth 2. Modern Truth Part 2: Nietzsche's Question 3. Nietzsche, or A Scandal of the Truth 4. William James, or Pragmatism Part 3: From Nature to History, From Being to Politics 5. Heidegger, or The Truth of Being 6. Derrida, or Difference Unlimited 7. Wittgenstein, or The Aufhebung of Logic 8. Foucault, or Truth in Politics Epilogue Notes Acknowledgments Index
