Russell: A Guide for the Perplexed

Russell: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Author: John Ongley

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-01-17

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 144119293X

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Winner of the 2014 Bertrand Russell Society Book Award Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. Over his professional career of 45 years Russell left his mark and influence in many domains of intellectual inquiry. This includes the foundations of mathematics, the philosophy of science, metaphysics, the theory of knowledge, the philosophy of language, education, religion, history, ethics and politics. In Russell: A Guide for the Perplexed, John Ongley and Rosalind Carey offer a clear and thorough account of the work and thought of this key thinker, providing a thematic outline of his central ideas and his enduring influence throughout the field of philosophy. The authors lay out a detailed survey of Russell's academic, technical philosophy, exploring his work on logic, mathematics, metaphysics, language, knowledge and science. This concise and accessible book engages the reader in a deeper critical analysis of Russell's prolific philosophical and literary output.

Truth

Truth PDF

Author: Simon Blackburn

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-07-30

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0198037570

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The author of the highly popular book Think, which Time magazine hailed as "the one book every smart person should read to understand, and even enjoy, the key questions of philosophy," Simon Blackburn is that rara avis--an eminent thinker who is able to explain philosophy to the general reader. Now Blackburn offers a tour de force exploration of what he calls "the most exciting and engaging issue in the whole of philosophy"--the age-old war over truth. The front lines of this war are well defined. On one side are those who believe in plain, unvarnished facts, rock-solid truths that can be found through reason and objectivity--that science leads to truth, for instance. Their opponents mock this idea. They see the dark forces of language, culture, power, gender, class, ideology and desire--all subverting our perceptions of the world, and clouding our judgement with false notions of absolute truth. Beginning with an early skirmish in the war--when Socrates confronted the sophists in ancient Athens--Blackburn offers a penetrating look at the longstanding battle these two groups have waged, examining the philosophical battles fought by Plato, Protagoras, William James, David Hume, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Richard Rorty, and many others, with a particularly fascinating look at Nietzsche. Among the questions Blackburn considers are: is science mere opinion, can historians understand another historical period, and indeed can one culture ever truly understand another. Blackburn concludes that both sides have merit, and that neither has exclusive ownership of truth. What is important is that, whichever side we embrace, we should know where we stand and what is to be said for our opponents.

Merleau-Ponty: A Guide for the Perplexed

Merleau-Ponty: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Author: Eric Matthews

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2006-06-23

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 0826485316

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Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

A Guide for the Perplexed

A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Author: Dara Horn

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2013-09-09

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0393064891

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While consulting at an Egyptian library, software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi is kidnapped and her talent for preserving memories becomes her only means of escape as the power of her ingenious work is revealed, while jealous sister Judith takes over Josie's life at home.

Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed

Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed PDF

Author: Gary Kemp

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2006-06-23

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9780826484864

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Willard Van Orman Quine is one of the most influential analytic philosophers of the latter half of the twentieth century. This work offers an analysis of his writings and ideas in those areas of philosophy to which he contributed. It sets his work in its intellectual context, illuminating his connections to Russell, Carnap and logical positivism.

Truth

Truth PDF

Author: Simon Blackburn

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 9780198752516

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The aim of the series is to bring together important recent writing in major areas of philosophical inquiry, selected from a variety of sources, mostly periodicals, which may not be conveniently available to the university student or the general reader. The editors of each volume contributean introductory essay on the items chosen and on the questions with which they deal. A selective bibliography is appended as a guide to further reading. This volume is designed to set out some of the central issues in the theory of truth. It begins with writings by F. H. Bradley, William James, Gottlob Frege, and Bertrand Russell, and continues wih the classical discussions from the middle of the century (including Wittgenstein, Quine, and Austin),ending with a selection of contemporary contributions, including essays from Donald Davidson and Richard Rorty. The collection draws together, for the first time, the debates between philosophers who favour 'robust' or 'substantive' theories of truth, and those other, 'deflationist' or minimalists,who deny that such theories can be given. The editors provide a substantial introduction, in which they map out this terrain and locate writers from Frege to Wittgenstein and Davidson within it. They also describe how these debates relate to more technical issues, such as work on the Liar paradox and formal truth theories.

A Priori

A Priori PDF

Author: Edwin Mares

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-10-14

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 1317547853

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In recent years many influential philosophers have advocated that philosophy is an a priori science. Yet very few epistemology textbooks discuss a priori knowledge at any length, focusing instead on empirical knowledge and empirical justification. As a priori knowledge has moved centre stage, the literature remains either too technical or too out of date to make up a reasonable component of an undergraduate course. Edwin Mares book aims to rectify this. This book seeks to make accessible to students the standard topics and current debates within a priori knowledge, including necessity and certainty, rationalism, empiricism and analyticity, Quine's attack on the a priori, Kantianism, Aristotelianism, mathematical knowledge, moral knowledge, logical knowledge and philosophical knowledge.

How To Read Hume

How To Read Hume PDF

Author: Simon Blackburn

Publisher: Granta Books

Published: 2014-10-02

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1783781459

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'Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.' David Hume David Hume is generally recognized as the United Kingdom's greatest philosopher, as well as a notable historian and essayist and a central figure of the Enlightenment. Yet his work is delicately poised between scepticism and naturalism, between despair at the limited powers of the mind and optimism at the progress we can make by understanding it. This difficult balancing act has given rise to a multitude of different interpretations: reading Hume has never been free of controversy. In this new approach to his writings, Simon Blackburn describes how Hume can be considered one of the earliest, and most successful, evolutionary psychologists, weaving plausible natural accounts of the way we should think of ourselves and of how we have come to be what we are.