Search results for "tag:"Author Roy A. Sorensen""
Oxford University Press Thought Experiments
Book SynopsisIn this book, Roy Sorensen presents the first general theory of the thought experiment. He analyses a wide variety of thought experiments, ranging from aesthetics to zoology, and explores what thought experiments are, how they work, and what their positive and negative aspects are. Sorensen also sets his theory within an evolutionary framework and integrates recent advances in experimental psychology and the history of science.Trade Reviewstimulating ... written in a vivid jaunty style ... The array of philosophical positions and teh many examples are presented with such clarity and freshness ... that this book can be recommended both as an unusual but engaging introduction to philosophy and as a sensitive analysis and defence of the cognitive power of thought experiments. * Times Higher Education Supplement *simply and clearly written, and virtually all of it is instructive and enjoyable to read. * George Schlesinger, University of North Carolina *Roy A. Sorensen's book is a useful collection of reflections on the definition and logic of thought experiments. It contains some splendid examples ... There are painstaking lists of respects in which thought experiments are, and are not, like ordinary experiments. * Simon Blackburn, Times Literary Supplement *Roy Sorensen's aim in his stimulating book is to demystify and defend the place of thought experiments in both science and philosophy ... This book is written in a vivid, jaunty style ... There is sustained argument, but also rapid movement from one case to another. The array of philosophical positions and the many examples are presented with such clarity and freshness, however, that this book can be recommended both as an unusual but engaging introduction to philosophy and as a sensitive analysis and defence of the cognitive power of thought experiments. * Times Higher Education Supplement *The book is tightly reasoned, and written in an engaging, often jocular style, Sorensen advances and defends his model in the manner of someone sincerely and pragmatically seeking comprehension, and is never didactic or ponderous. * James W. McAllister, University of Leiden, Mind, Vol. 102, No. 408, Oct '93 *The first full-scale treatment of thought experiments ... The book is clearly written and largely nontechnical. It bears on the nature of theorizing in general, owing to its careful treatment of a wide range of cases of theoretical activity. Recommended for all libraries. * Choice *[An] important new book ... Sorensen articulates what is sure to become one of the central views about thought experiments, but he also provides an excellent introduction to this wonderful subject. The topic has rather suddenly become a growth industry. Besides its other virtues, Roy Sorensen's Thought Experiments also offers a very good leg in. * Canadian Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Our Most Curious Device ; 2. Scepticism About Thought Experiments ; 3. Mach and Inner Cognitive Africa ; 4. The Wonder of Armchair Inquiry ; 5. Kuhntradictions ; 6. The Logical Structure of Thought Experiment ; 7. Conflict Vagueness and Precisification ; 8. The Evolution of Thought Experiment ; 9. Are Thought Experiments? ; 10. Fallacies and Antifallacies ; Notes ; Select Bibliography ; Subject Index ; Name Index
£41.49
Clarendon Press Blindspots Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy
Book SynopsisAn attempt to provide a unified solution to a number of philosophical puzzles through a study of blindspots, ie consistent propositions that cannot be rationally accepted by certain individuals even if they are true.Trade Review'the book is challenging and extremely interesting. It will, I am certain, provike a good deal of exciting philosophical discussion.'Times Literary Supplement'Blindspots is full of stimulating discussions of innumerable philosophically interesting puzzles and problems ... It shows a lively sense of humour ... and reveals a knack for the provocative' Lloyd Humberstone, Monash University, Australasian Journal of Philosophy
£162.50
Taylor & Francis Ltd PseudoProblems How Analytic Philosophy Gets Done
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1993. Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? Does time flow at an even rate? These are just two of the questions that won''t be answered in Pseudo-Problems. This book explains how problems are dissolved rather than solved. Roy Sorenson takes the most important and interesting examples from one hundred years of analytic philosophy (and the odd one from the centuries before) to consolidate a new theory of dissolution. Pseudo-Problems is a fast-moving, fascinating alternative history of twentieth-century analytic philosophy, and a fine example of what philosophical analysis should be. Not least, it is an important contribution to the debates about creativity and problem solving.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements, Introduction, 1. Question quality control, 2. Get ‘real’!, 3. Problems with ‘pseudo-problems’, 4. The soft consensual underbelly of dispute, 5. #?‘!+@me□an$□@ing~l$ ss*ne$$ˆ, 6. The devil’s volleyball, 7. Popped presuppositions, 8. The unity of opposites, 9. Forging the stream of consciousness, 10. Beyond our ken, 11. The edge of reason, 12. Undermining the undeserving, 13. Enlightened tasks, 14. Depth, Bibliography, Index
£123.50
