Naturalism provides a rigorous analysis and critique of the major varieties of contemporary philosophical naturalism. The authors advocate the thesis that contemporary naturalism should be abandoned, in light of the serious objections raised against it. Contributors draw on a wide range of topics including: epistemology, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind and agency, and natural theology.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203186133

This historical study investigates Ludwig Wittgenstein's early philosophy of logic and language, as it is presented in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Drawing on Wittgenstein's correspondence, and on his numerous pre-Tractatus manuscripts, the study makes a case for the Tractatus as an insightful critique of the philosophies of Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege - the Founding Fathers of analytic philosophy.
The book urges a re-assessment of the relative influence of these philosophers on the early Wittgenstein. It argues that the current vogue for "Fregean" readings of the Tractatus has tended to obscure the true depth and importance of Wittgenstein's involvement with Russell's philosophy. This case is built through a series of detailed studies of central logico-linguistic topics including: tautology, logical assertion, the picture theory of the proposition and the deductive inference.

Jacques Derrida's Structure, Sign, and Play is one of the most controversial and influential philosophical texts of the 20th century. Delivered at a conference on structuralism at Johns Hopkins, the lecture took aim at the critical and philosophical fashions of the time and radically proposing a world in which meaning cannot be pinned down or traced to an origin, but instead is continuously shifting, fleeting, and open to play. Hailed by many as a watershed in philosophy and literary theory, Derrida's lecture has shaped both disciplines. At once dense, brilliant, and humorous, it is a crucial read for anyone interested in questioning our natural assumptions about meaning in the world.

Martin Buber's I and Thou argues that humans engage with the world in two ways. One is with the attitude of an 'I' towards an 'It', where the self stands apart from objects as items of experience or use. The other is with the attitude of an 'I' towards a 'Thou', where the self enters into real relation with other people, or nature, or God. Addressing modern technological society, Buber claims that while the 'I-It' attitude is necessary for existence, human life finds its meaning in personal relationships of the 'I-Thou' sort. I and Thou is Buber's masterpiece, the basis of his religious philosophy of dialogue, and among the most influential studies of the human condition in the 20th century.

Provides students and general readers with a basic understanding of the central concepts, issues, and thinkers of the early modern era of philosophy Is there a world that exists apart from ourselves? If an external world exists, what is its nature? Can an external world based on evidence from our sense perception be known? How do such questions arise? Is it even possible for them to be answered? This is Modern Philosophy: An Introduction surveys how philosophers from the late sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century investigated central metaphysical and epistemological issues. Focusing on six key philosophers, this accessible volume provides readers with a solid and balanced appreciation of how philosophy was done in the Modern period. Each chapter explores the views of a particular thinker--Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, George Berkeley, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Lady Mary Shepherd--with special attention paid to their engagement with 'The Problem of the External World.' Throughout the book, readers are invited to consider related philosophical problems and doctrines, such as transcendental idealism, mind-body dualism, and skepticism. Introduces a range of philosophical concepts, including materialism, idealism, rationalism, and empiricism Discusses how the philosophical views from each of the philosophers covered are similar and different Addresses the views of other important thinkers such as John Locke and Adam Smith Features an epilogue that helps readers locate other important philosophers from different historical periods Provides links to high-quality online editions and translations of primary texts that are freely available to students Part of Wiley-Blackwell's popular This Is Philosophy series, This is Modern Philosophy: An Introduction is an invaluable resource for undergraduate students in Early Modern philosophy courses, graduate philosophy students looking to refresh their knowledge, and general readers looking for an easy-to-read introduction to the subject.

An introduction to and overview of the entire problem of evil, from a philosophical perspective. The text aims to be introductory and inclusive, both by familiarizing students with the main contours of the intellectual terrain, and by pointing them in the direction of further resources.

Originally published in 1991, the essays in this volume are written by philosophers who were convinced that Wittgenstein's investigations in philosophical psychology were of direct relevance to current experimental psychology at the time. Rather than reflecting on the nature of psychological theory at a high level of abstraction, they examined leading theories and controversies in the experimental study of vision and of language in order to reveal the conceptual problems that they raise and the philosophical theories that have exerted an influence upon them. Under the section headings 'Language and Behaviour' and 'Perception and Representation', the essays examine the work of Chomsky, Gregory, Marr, Weiskrantz and others, and discuss problems ranging from artificial intelligence to animal communications, from blindsight to machine vision. The collection aims to demonstrate that philosophical investigations can contribute to psychological science by extirpating conceptual confusions which have been woven into the fabric of empirical research. The majority of the essays had been specially commissioned, and the contributors include several of the most distinguished exponents of Wittgenstein's philosophical legacy at the time.

"Thinking Matter" is an original and provocative look at the nature of consciousness. While many contemporary philosophers have downplayed the significance of the body and subscribed to a brain/body dualism in human consciousness, Joseph S. Catalano argues that it is the "entire" fleshy body that thinks; the body of the dancer, the hands of the writer, and the eyes of the reader are not merely instruments of thought, but forms of thought itself. Calling for a thorough rethinking of philosophic traditions from Aristotle to Sartre, Catalano offers a holistic view of the bodily nature of consciousness--one that focuses on the total organic body rather than the brain alone.

Thinking Matter is an entirely original and provocative look at the nature of consciousness. Joseph Catalano describes a more holistic notion of consciousness in its relation to the world. Catalano persuasively argues that our philosophies and psychologies have overlooked the significance of the body. While many contemporary prominent philosophers argue for a brain-body dualism (in place of the old mind-body dualism), the distinctiveness of Catalano's approach to consciousness is that he argues that is the entire fleshy body that thinks.

Someone called Jacques Derrida, someone called him on the phone, someone who was dead -- this was August 22nd 1979. A mystery, he thought; but it is a mystery that began more than ten years earlier, in 1968, when Derrida, a philosopher, visits Oxford and there, before the very eyes of the Philosophy Sub-Faculty, he dies, several times. Murder, he thought. And so I shall investigate, and begin with a sign that the philosopher says he left within a book from the thirteenth century, a strange fortune-telling book that he had found in the oldest part of Oxford's Bodleian Library. In the book are a host of cryptic questions, but the philosopher directs us to one in particular, a peculiar question about a boy, and the question is this: Does the boy live? The philosopher will not, though, give the answer; he requires, instead, that we go to Oxford to open the book for ourselves.

One of the century's greatest and most influential thinkers, Karl Popper reminds us that we must recognize our responsibilities in preserving the democratic system we enjoy: it is our actions which will create the world of tomorrow.
In these interviews with journalist Giancarlo Bosetti, Karl Popper ranges widely over contemporary political and social issues. He reflects on many topics, from the decline of the Soviet Union and the danger of a Third World War, to our obligations to children and the potentially harmful influence of television. He warns us that the increasing violence and egotism of our society, if unchecked, will imperil our civilisation. The volume also contains two talks on the theory of democracy, arguing that democracy has never been the rule of the people (nor can or should it be), but only the best method we know for preventing tyranny.

A critical account of the case for historicism from Popper to Foucault, this volume, originally published in 1989, shows the viability of an historicist account of knowledge by replying to traditional objections and the need for defenses of realism and reference at the heart of most alternatives to historicism. The book provides insights to those in philosophy as well as literary criticism, intellectual history, history of science, and cultural criticism.

"Philosophy and Desire," the seventh book in the well-known Continental Philosophy series, examines questions of desire--desire for another person, desire for happiness, desire for knowledge, desire for a better world, desire for the impossible, desire in text, desire in language and desire for desire itself. The theme of desire is explored through readings of contemporary figures such as Merleau-Ponty, Bataille, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Levinas, Irigaray, Barthes, Derrida, and Derrida. A hot, timely topic in philosophy today Expands the contemporary debates

In contemporary liberal thought, "tolerance" has come to be redefined as a synonym for ethical neutrality: refusal to judge among competing views of goods and evils. The result of this extreme relativism has been a foundations crisis in law, politics, education, and other areas of social life. In this lucidly written and brilliantly argued volume, J. Budziszewski attempts to reserve the self-destruction of modern liberalism by showing that true tolerance is not only consistent with taking stands about objective goods and evils, but actually requires doing so. Tolerance, falsely understood as ethical neutrality, has the paradoxical effect of crippling policy choice by divesting it of the moral and practical framework on which it depends. By painstakingly and exhaustively dissecting each of the many neutralist arguments, Budziszewski demonstrates that real neutrality is logically impossible. Confronted by alternative views, the neutralist at best obscures his own underlying judgments, and at worst abandons all possible defense against fanatics who oppose both true equality and true tolerance. "True Tolerance" is both a rigorous critique, and a polemic undertaken in the name of a positive, twenty-first century vision of liberalism. Budziszewsky outlines a view of true tolerance that assumes a relationship with an older liberal tradition and a codependence with other virtues, including humility, mercy, charity, respect, and courtesy. This vision is rooted in historical experience and rational conviction about what is good. In the spirit of liberal and classical theorists of virtue from Aristotle to John Locke to Alasdair MacIntyre, the virtue of true tolerance is much more than a readiness to follow known rules; it includes a developed ability to distinguish good rules from bad, and to choose rightly even where there are no rules or where rules seem to contradict each other. Accessibly written and intended for a wide readership, True Tolerance will be of special interest to political theorists and activists, and to sociologists and philosophers.

This book is concerned with the role of intuitions in the justification of philosophical theory. The author begins by demonstrating how contemporary philosophers, whether engaged in case-driven analysis or seeking reflective equilibrium, rely on intuitions as evidence for their theories. The author then provides an account of the nature of philosophical intuitions and distinguishes them from other psychological states. Finally, the author defends the use of intuitions as evidence by demonstrating that arguments for skepticism about their evidential value are either self-defeating or guilty of arbitrary and unjustified partiality towards non-intuitive modes of knowledge.

Lyotard and the Political is the first book to consider the full range of the political thought of the French philosopher François Lyotard and its broader implications for an understanding of the political. James Williams clearly and carefully traces the development of Lyotard's thought from his early Marxist essays on the Algerian struggle for independence to his break with the thought of Marx and Freud. This is compared with Lyotard's later, highly influental writings on the politics of desire and his attempts to base a postmodern political discourse on the sublime.
An indispensable work for all who are interested in modern continental philosophy, Lyotard and the Political offers the first systematic analysis of the political dimension of the work of one of the most controversial and influential philosophers of the twentieth century.

Also available in this series: Lacan and the Political Pb: 0-415-17187-3: £12.99
Heidegger and the Political Pb:0-415-13064-6: £12.99
Derrida and the Political Pb: 0-415-10967-1: £13.99
Nietzche and the Political Pb: 0-41510069-0: £12.99
Foucault and the Political Pb: 0-415-10066-6: £12.99

John Rawls is the preeminent political philosopher of our time. His 1971 masterpiece, A Theory of Justice, permanently changed the landscape of moral political theory, revitalizing the normative study of social issues and taking stands about justice, ethics, rationality and philosophical method that continue to draw followers and critics today.

In these five volumes, Henry S. Richardson and Paul Weithman draw together almost 90 of the most incisive and influential articles in that body of literature. The reprinted articles, many of them drawn from difficult-to-find sources, cover the gamut of controversies and conversations sparked by Rawls's work and represent a wide range of philosophical points of view. The selection also includes articles that reflect Rawls's reception in economics, law, and the social science more broadly.

The publication of these five volumes will be welcomed by students and scholars of contemporary political philosophy, and by anyone interested in the most probing reactions to the premier political philosopher of our time.

John Rawls is the preeminent political philosopher of our time. His 1971 masterpiece, A Theory of Justice, permanently changed the landscape of moral political theory, revitalizing the normative study of social issues and taking stands about justice, ethics, rationality and philosophical method that continue to draw followers and critics today.

In these five volumes, Henry S. Richardson and Paul Weithman draw together almost 90 of the most incisive and influential articles in that body of literature. The reprinted articles, many of them drawn from difficult-to-find sources, cover the gamut of controversies and conversations sparked by Rawls's work and represent a wide range of philosophical points of view. The selection also includes articles that reflect Rawls's reception in economics, law, and the social science more broadly.

The publication of these five volumes will be welcomed by students and scholars of contemporary political philosophy, and by anyone interested in the most probing reactions to the premier political philosopher of our time.

John Rawls is the preeminent political philosopher of our time. His 1971 masterpiece, A Theory of Justice, permanently changed the landscape of moral political theory, revitalizing the normative study of social issues and taking stands about justice, ethics, rationality and philosophical method that continue to draw followers and critics today.

In these five volumes, Henry S. Richardson and Paul Weithman draw together almost 90 of the most incisive and influential articles in that body of literature. The reprinted articles, many of them drawn from difficult-to-find sources, cover the gamut of controversies and conversations sparked by Rawls's work and represent a wide range of philosophical points of view. The selection also includes articles that reflect Rawls's reception in economics, law, and the social science more broadly.

The publication of these five volumes will be welcomed by students and scholars of contemporary political philosophy, and by anyone interested in the most probing reactions to the premier political philosopher of our time.

A ground-breaking attempt at articulating a philosophy of computer science, this book is an introduction to the philosophical foundations of computer science and the contributions that philosophy and computer science can make to each other.

Colburn first investigates what makes computer science an empirical science and not merely a branch of pure mathematics. He finds that despite its reliance on formal methods, computer science practices a unique type of abstraction that can help explain the puzzling ontological nature of complex virtual worlds now common in games and on the Internet.

Colburn then identifies the roots of the modern field of artificial intelligence (AI) in the rich tradition of Western philosophy since ancient Greece.A vast array of philosophical issues associated with AI's current practices are introduced: ethics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and even the very touchy issue of whether or not machines can be made to think.

Russell on Religion presents a comprehensive and accessible selection of Bertrand Russell's writing on religion and related topics from the turn of the century to the end of his life. The influence of religion pervades almost all Bertrand Russell's writings from his mathematical treatises to his early fiction. Russell contends with religion as a philosopher, as a historian, as a social critic and as a private individual. The papers in this volume are arranged chronologically for optimum coherence of the development of Russell's thinking and are divided into five main sections:
* Personal statements
* Religion and Philosophy
* Religion and Science
* Religion and Morality
* Religion and History
Students at all levels will find this a valuable insight into Russell's thought on religion.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203450965

Colburn (computer science, U. of Minnesota-Duluth) has a doctorate in philosophy and an advanced degree in computer science; he's worked as a philosophy professor, a computer programmer, and a research scientist in artificial intelligence. Here he discusses the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence; the new encounter of science and philosophy (logic, models of the mind and of reasoning, epistemology); and the philosophy of computer science (touching on math, abstraction, software, and ontology).

While its tone is playful and frivolous, this book poses tough questions over the nature of religion and belief. Religion provides comfortable responses to the questions that have always beset humankind - why are we here, what is the point of being alive, how ought we to behave? Russell snatches that comfort away, leaving us instead with other, more troublesome alternatives: responsibility, autonomy, self-awareness. He tells us that the time to live is now, the place to live is here, and the way to be happy is to ensure others are happy.

Our thoughts about the world are clearly influenced by such things as point of view, temperament, past experience and culture. However, some thinkers go much further and argue that everything that exists depends on us, arguing that 'even reality is relative'. Can we accept such a claim in the face of events such as floods and other natural disasters or events seemingly beyond our control? 'Realists' argue that reality is independent of out thinking. 'Relativists' disagree, arguing that what there is depends on our point of view. Which is right?
Robert Kirk provides a crystal clear account of this debate from the Greek philosophers to Wittgenstein and Rorty. Along the way, he unpacks some of the more complicated issues surrounding ideas of objectivity, subjectivity, pragmatism and realism essential for those beginning any study of philosphy.

Wittgenstein's Art of Investigation is one of the first to focus on and provide an original and detailed analysis of Wittgenstein's grammatical investigations. Beth Sarkey offers us new insight into the historical context and influences on method which will help students understand the intricacies and depth of his work.