Description
Book SynopsisPhilosophy began hundreds of years BCE, and by now has grown to a scope and scale beyond acceptability by any single mind. But a sampling of episodes and issues can convey some idea of the nature of the field. It is the goal of the book to clarify a wide spectrum of key philosophical issues.
Trade Review“In Ventures in Philosophical History, Nicholas Rescher forcefully brings us to understand how viewing philosophy in terms of the questions it seeks to answer gives us a new appreciation of the dialectic growth of philosophical thought. Using contemporary methods, Rescher illuminates older philosophical questions created by older philosophers, bringing us and them into a continuous conversation. His understanding of the liveliness of contemporary philosophy is refreshing and most welcome.” —Joseph C. Pitt, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Virginia Tech, USA.
“Set in his deep command of the history of philosophy, with the common-sense accessibility for which he is known, Rescher offers new and surprising philosophical insights into a range of historical figures, from Leibniz to Wittgenstein and Gödel.” —Patrick Grim, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Stony Brook University, USA.
“Philosophers today continue to be nourished by the work of earlier philosophers, and, in contrast to natural scientists, they develop the earlier work without replacing it. This is what Rescher teaches us in this new collection of papers as he illuminates various key issues of philosophy.” —John F. Crosby, Professor of Philosophy, Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA.
“Nicholas Rescher provides rich coverage of doctrines of Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Peirce, Wittgenstein, and Gödel. He judiciously applies formal logic to clarify and criticize. The culmination is a clear and convincing account of the agenda of philosophy—how it differs from science, and why its own internal dynamic endures.” —Neil Tennant, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor in Philosophy, Distinguished University Scholar, College of Arts & Humanities Department of Philosophy, USA.
Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; Chapter 1: The Principles of Leibnizian Metaphysics; Chapter 2: Leibniz and “The Liar” Paradox; Chapter 3: Hume and Conceivability; Chapter 4: Hume and Rationality; Chapter 5: The Rationale of Kantian Ethics; Chapter 6: Kant on a Key Difference between Philosophy and Science; Chapter 7: Pragmatic Perspectives; Chapter 8: Wittgenstein’s Logocentrism; Chapter 9: Did Leibniz Anticipate Gödel?; Chapter 10: The Agenda of Philosophy; Index of Names
