Richard Rorty is one of the most influential, controversial and widely-read philosophers of the twentieth century. In this GuideBook to Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature Tartaglia analyzes this challenging text and introduces and assesses:

• Rorty's life and the background to his philosophy
• the key themes and arguments of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
• the continuing importance of Rorty's work to philosophy.

Rorty and the Mirror of Nature is an ideal starting-point for anyone new to Rorty, and essential reading for students in philosophy, cultural studies, literary theory and social science.

Taking inspiration from the later Wittgenstein, On Moral Certainty, Justification and Practice explores the practical basis of human morality. It offers an account of moral certainty, which it links with a view of moral competence. Drawing on everyday examples, it is shown how morality is grounded in action, not in reasoning.

This interdisciplinary project is situated at the boundary between literary studies and philosophy. Its chief focus is on American Romanticism and it examines work by a number of prominent writers and philosophers, from Whitman and Thoreau to Barthes and Rorty.

The scholarship of New Directions in Curriculum as Phenomenological Text manifests through close readings and interpretations of curriculum theorists and Continental philosophers, presented in the form of 'speculative philosophical essays,' an important form of curriculum thinking-writing all but lost to the general contemporary field of research.

Willard Van Orman Quine was certainly the greatest analytic philosopher of the second half of the twentieth century. Born in 1908, he held the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard University from 1956 to 2000. He made highly important contributions to such areas as mathematical logic, set theory, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of logic. His best known works include "From a Logical Point of View", "Ontological Relativity" and other essays, and his most influential Word and Object. One of Quine's central doctrines is the 'indeterminacy of translation' - the assertion that there is no objective answer to the question of what someone means by any given sentence. This view was first put forward in Word and Object and was shocking enough to draw criticisms from other leading philosophers like Noam Chomsky and Richard Rorty. Eve Gaudet argues that these controversies stem partly from Quine's ambiguities and changes of mind, and partly from his readers' misunderstandings. Gaudet dissipates the confusion by examining afresh. Quine's whole concept of 'a fact of the matter', and evaluating the contributions to the debate by Chomsky, Rorty, Friedman, Gibson and Follesdal in the light of her new interpretation. This is the first book devoted to a defence of Quine's indeterminacy of translation doctrine. Unlike many who conclude in Quine's favour, Gaudet adopts a critical and nuanced approach to Quine's texts, showing that Quine sometimes changed his positions and was not always as clear and consistent as many assume.

(nach Berichten von Martin Buber) "Aus den Anfangen unsrer Schriftiibertragung," so iiberschrieb Martin Buber seinen ersten Bericht, den Bericht iiber die Prinzipien, die ihn und Rosenzweig leiteten, iiber die Arbeitsweise bei der Schriftiibertragung und iiber die wachsende gegenseitige Befruchtung im Verstehen und im Verstandlichmachen der Schrift. Dieser Bericht, der in der Rosenzweig-Gedenknummer der Zeitschrift "Der Orden Bne Briss" (Berlin, Marz 1930) dreieinhalb Monate nach Rosenzweigs Tod erschienen ist und in dem Aufsatzband "Martin Buber und Franz Rosenzweig, Die Schrift und ihre Verdeutschung" (Verlag Schocken, Berlin 1936) fast unverandert abgedruckt wurde, ist noch ganzund gar von dem unmittelbaren Erleben - dem menschlichen der 1 Zusammenarbeit wie dem sachlichen der Schrifterhellung-gepragt: " . . . AIs 1923 Franz Rosenzweig, mit der Ubertragung von Gedich ten lehuda Halevis beschaftigt, sich haufig an mich um Rat wandte, und wir bald dazu gelangten, an der Hand der jeweiligen Beispiele miteinander die Problematik des Ubersetzens iiberhaupt und die Probleme der iibersetzerischen Aufgabe zu erartern, ergaben sich uns unmerklich, zuerst nur als der zuweilen erleuchtete, meist dammrige Hintergrund unsres Gesprachs, dann aber immer gebieterischer als seine magnetische Mitte, die Fragen: 1st die Schrift iibersetzbar? 1st sie schon wirklich iibersetzt? Was bleibt noch zu tun? wenig? viel? das Entscheidende? . . ."

The book is the result of my preoccupation with the phe nomenological philosophy of Edmund Husserl during my years of post-doctoral studies (approximately since 1960). As the titles of the chapters may suggest, I have dealt with a number of topics relating to Husserlian Phenomenology - themes which are relatively independent but not disconnected. For I have been prone to look upon this movement as presenting more an organic outlook of its own, inspite of its diversity of phases, than as offering certain answers to individual philosophical problems. Accordingly my aim here has been to interpret the meaning and significance of this outlook in its logical, epistemological and metaphysical aspects. In writing these chapters I have been aware of the fact that the phenomenological movement as such still represents some thing of a heterodoxy in the world of Anglo-American philosophy to-day. Yet the points of contact between the two are not far fetched. In treating the problems from the phenomenological point of view, I have often taken into account the views of the empirical-analytical school in general. It should be clear that instead of confining myself to a bare exposition of the different aspects of Husserlian Phenomenology, I have taken some freedom in interpreting its point of view."

Fifty years after the death of Edmund Husserl, the main founder of the phenomenological current of thought, we present to the public a four book collection showing in an unprecedented way how Husserl's aspiration to inspire the entire universe of knowledge and scholarship has now been realized. These volumes display for the first time the astounding expansion of phenomenological philosophy throughout the world and the enormous wealth and variety of ideas, insights, and approaches it has inspired. The basic commitment to phenomenological concerns found in all this variety makes this collection a most signifi cant historical document. This second volume of the collection bears witness to a deliberate shift of attention from the earlier to the later phase of Husserl's reflections. We see how his issues - intersubjectivity, ethics, human encounter, the societal world, empathy, the sphere of the self, and the surpassing of dichotomies (bodylpsyche, etc.) - are now at the center of attention in the human sciences. Among the authors are H. Tellenbach, A. Rigobello, C. Balzer, C. Bjurvill, V. Molchanov, E. Syristova, O. Balaban, R. Boehm, M. Sancipriano, O. M. Anwar, Y. Okamoto, B. Holyst, T. Sodeika, and M. De Negri. The studies were gathered at the programs held by The World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research and Learning in the commemorative year 1988/1989, chiefly at the First World Congress of Phenomenology at Santiago de Compos tela, Spain, with the aim of assessing the current state of phenomenology. A-T. T."

Here is a brilliant new translation of Descartes's Meditations, one of the most influential books in the history of Western philosophy, including the full texts of the Third and Fourth Objections and Replies, and a selection from the other exchanges. Discovering his own existence as a thinking
entity in the very exercise of doubt--in the famous formulation cogito, ergo sum--Descartes goes on to develop new conceptions of body and mind, capable of serving as foundations for a new science of nature. Subsequent philosophy has grappled with Descartes's ideas, but his arguments set the agenda
for many of the greatest philosophical thinkers, and their fascination endures. This new translation pays particular attention to Descartes's terminology and style, with its elaborate but beautifully lucid syntax, careful balancing, and rhetorical signposting. The wide-ranging introduction places
the work in the intellectual context of the time and discusses the nature of the work, its structure, key issues, and its influence on later thinkers. The book also includes notes, an up-to-date bibliography, a chronology, and an index.

This book examines the role that human subjective experience plays in the creation of reality and introduces a new concept, the Bubble Universe, to describe the universe as it looks from the subjective viewpoint of an individual. Drawing on a range of research, the author questions the extent to which the scientific study of the origins of life, consciousness and subjective experience is itself influenced by scientists' subjective worlds. The author argues that in many respects the Bubble Universe differs from the universe as described by science and religion, and analyzes these differences. The fabric and structure of subjective reality is described, and various aspects of the Bubble Universe are examined, including science, religion, life, morality and history. The differences between the views from inside the subjective universe and from scientific, religious and sociocultural versions of the universe are outlined, and their significance for practical and theoretical problems are highlighted and illustrated with psychological experiments. This book will be of value to all scholars interested in how subjectivity influences research and appeal in particular to those working in developmental and theoretical psychology, consciousness, epistemology, phenomenology, and the philosophy of science and of the mind.

"Robert Brandom" is one of the most significant philosophers writing today, yet paradoxically philosophers have found it difficult to get to grips with the details and implications of his work. This book aims to facilitate critical engagement with Brandom's ideas by providing an accessible overview of Brandom's project and the context for an initial assessment. Jeremy Wanderer's examination focuses on Brandom's inferentialist conception of rationality, and the core part of this conception that aims to specify the structure that a set of performances within a social practice must have for the participants to count as sapient beings by virtue of their participation in the practice, and for the performances within the practice to have objective semantic content by virtue of their featuring within the practice. Wanderer's exploration of these two goals forms the structure to the book. It Includes: Part I that provides a structural model of linguistic practice and considers various groups of potential participants in terms of their relationships to this practice; and, Part II that examines the meaning of the performances that are caught up in this gameplaying practice. Brandom's approach to semantics is outlined and the challenge such an approach has in allowing for a representational dimension of language and thought is explored. Wanderer offers readers a valuable framework for understanding the Brandomian system and helps situate Brandom's systematic theorizing within contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. This book will be a sought after aid to reading Brandom for advanced students and philosophers engaging with his challenging body of work.

Does philosophical critique have a future? What are its possibilities, limits and presuppositions? This collection, by outstanding scholars from various traditions, responds to these questions by examining the forms of philosophical critique that have shaped continental thought from Spinoza and Kant to Marx, Foucault, Derrida and Ranciere.

This collection offers a critical assessment of transcendentalism, the understanding of consciousness, absolutized as a system of a priori laws of the mind, that was advanced by Kant and Husserl. As these studies show, transcendentalism critically informed 20th Century phenomenological investigation into such issues as temporality, historicity, imagination, objectivity and subjectivity, freedom, ethical judgment, work, praxis. Advances in science have now provoked a questioning of the absolute prerogatives of consciousness. Transcendentalism is challenged by empirical reductionism. And recognition of the role the celestial sphere plays in life on planet earth suggests that a radical shift of philosophy's center of gravity be made away from absolute consciousness and toward the transcendental forces at play in the architectonics of the cosmos.

Using posthumous manuscripts, the author shows that Scheler conceived the origin of time in the self-activating center of individual and universal life as threefold 'absolute' time of a four-dimensional expanse. This serves as a basis for establishing the phenomenon of objective time in multiple steps of constitutionality, including the physical field theory and theory of relativity.

This book offers a clear and informative interpretation of Heidegger's extremely complex later philosophy (which is often dismissed as unintelligible mysticism), exploring its main themes and offering analyses of its most obscure formulations. It will be widely welcomed by students as well as scholars in Heidegger studies.

Karl Jaspers, who died in 1969, had a profound impact on 20th-century theology and philosophy. His central thesis called for, among other things, a de-centering of philosophy from its Eurocentric roots and a renewal of its dialogue with other traditions, especially Asian ones. This collection of essays includes unpublished work by Jaspers himself as well as testimonies to his life and career by colleagues, associates, and translators, some of who knew Jaspers personally. Readers will also find commentary and interpretation by researchers who have explored Jaspers' work for decades, and a biographical account of Jaspers' student Leonard Ehrlich, who handled much of Jaspers' English translation.

The book interrogates Jaspers' conceptions of 'philosophical faith', his philosophy of communication, and the prospects for world philosophy in the future. Focusing on philosophical faith, it assesses Jaspers' interpretations of key philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Schelling, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Rosenzweig, as well as examining his personal relationships with Bultmann and Heidegger. Contributors also look at Jaspers' philosophies of religion and history, his hypothesis of the 'axial age' (Achsenzeit), and his contributions to metaphysics, periechontology, and economics. Finally, chapters cover Jaspers' philosophy of communication and world history. The latter are informed by a burgeoning interest in Kantian 'Freiheitphilosophie' that influenced Jaspers, as well as concerns over the future of humanity. These concerns in part account for Jaspers' growing popularity in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central/South America, and Asia. Also included are lucid clarifications of the difference between religious and philosophical faith, and the relevance of certainty, trust, and communication for a future of mankind.

Trained as a psychiatrist, Jaspers practiced this profession before becoming a philosopher and thus had a keen insight into the workings of the human mind even as he challenged the philosophical establishment of his time. It is perhaps this depth to his background that adds to the contemporary relevance of his work."

This selection provides the reader with the text of Diderot's more important philosophical writings.

This anthology focuses on the relationship of Wittgenstein's philosophy to currents and controversies in the contemporary philosophical scene. Most of these essays appear for the first time, some written specifically for this volume.

The distinguished philosopher of language, Francois Recanati, has proposed a wide-ranging truth-conditional model of pragmatics. In this collection, various aspects of his theories are addressed by distinguished contributors, and are then commented on or answered by Recanati himself so that the reader is drawn into the central debate within philosophy of language and cognitive science as to what kind of pragmatics system is needed.

This is an open access book which explores phenomenology as both an exceptionally diverse movement in philosophy as well as an active research method that crosses disciplinary boundaries. The volume brings together lively overviews of major areas and schools of phenomenology, as well as the most recent applications across a range of fields.  The first part reviews the state-of-the-art in various areas of contemporary phenomenology, including several distinct schools of Husserl and Heidegger scholarship, as well as approaches derived from Merleau-Ponty, de Beauvoir, Fanon, and others. An innovative quantitative analysis of citation networks provides rich visualizations of the field as a whole. The second part showcases phenomenology as a living discipline that can advance research in other areas. While some areas of interaction between phenomenology and other disciplines are by now well established (e.g. cognitive science), this volume sheds light on newer areas of application. The goal is to move beyond discussions of philosophical method and highlight scholars who are actually doing phenomenology in a variety of areas, including:   Embodiment and questions of gender, race, and identity,  The arts (visual art, literature, architecture), and  Archaeology and anthropology.   This volume offers a concise introduction to cutting edge phenomenological research and is suitable for both students and specialists. 

Most of the papers appearing in volume 87 numbers, 1-2 are based on papers presented at the Colloquium on the Philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein held at the Department of Philosophy at Florida State University on 7-8 April 1989. We owe warm thanks to Florida State University for generously supporting this colloquium. The English translation of the chapter entitled 'Philosophie', from Wittgenstein's typescript number 213 (von Wright), appears here with permission of Wittgenstein's literary heirs, without affecting existing copyrights. The original German version of this chapter was edited by Heikki Nyman and appeared in Revue Internationale de Philosophie 43 (1989), pp. 175-203. Jaakko Hintikka's article (87, No.2) first appeared in a shorter form in The Times Literary Supplement No. 4565 (28 September to 4 October 1990, p. 1030). The present version appears with the permis sion of The Times Literary Supplement, which is gratefully acknowl edged. Our thanks are due to all the participants of the colloquium and the contributors to these special numbers."

This book examines Husserl's approach to the question concerning meaning in life and demonstrates that his philosophy includes a phenomenology of existence. Given his critique of the fashionable "philosophy of existence" of the late 1920s and early 1930s, one might think that Husserl posited an opposition between transcendental phenomenology and existential philosophy, as well as that in this respect he differed from existential phenomenologists after him. But texts composed between 1908 and 1937 and recently published in Husserliana XLII, Grenzprobleme der Phanomenologie (2014), show that the existential Husserl was not opposed but open to the phenomenological investigation of several basic topics of a philosophy of existence. A collection of contributions from a team of internationally recognized scholars drawing on these and other sources, the present volume offers insights into the relationship between phenomenology and philosophy of existence. It does so by (1) delineating the basic outlines of Husserl's phenomenology of existence, (2) reinterpreting the tension between Husserl's transcendental phenomenology and Jaspers's and Heidegger's philosophy of existence as well as Kierkegaard's and Sartre's existentialism, and (3) investigating the existential aspects of Husserl's phenomenological ethics. Thus focusing on neglected aspects of Husserl's thought, the volume shows that there is a consensus between classical phenomenology and existential phenomenology on the urgency of addressing the existential questions that in The Crisis of the European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (1936) Husserl calls "the questions concerning the meaning or meaninglessness of this entire human existence". The Existential Husserl represents a major contribution to the clarification of the historical and philosophical developments from transcendental phenomenology to existential phenomenology. The book should appeal to a wide audience of many readers at all levels looking for phenomenological answers to existential questions.

Twentieth-century philosophy has often been pictured as divided into two camps, analytic and continental. This study challenges this depiction by examining encounters between some of the leading representatives of either side. Starting with Husserl and Frege's fin-de-siecle turn against psychologism, it turns to Carnap's 1931 attack on Heidegger's metaphysics (together with its background in the Cassirer-Heidegger dispute of 1929), moving on to Ayer's 1951 meeting with Bataille and Merleau-Ponty at a Parisian bar, followed by the 'dialogue of the deaf' between Oxford linguistic philosophers and phenomenologists at the 1951 Royaumont colloquium, leading up to the Derrida-Searle controversy. Careful study shows that it is implausible to assume the existence of a century-old 'gulf' between two sides of philosophy. Vrahimis argues that miscommunication and ignorance over the exact content of the above encounters must to a large extent be held accountable for any perceived gap.

This investigation is a historical review of twentieth-century analytical philosophy in England. In seven chapters, the intellectual development of its most prominent representatives - Moore, Russell, Wittgenstein, Ryle, Austin, Strawson, Dummett - is traced. The book offers synopses of the main philosophical texts of these seven philosophers. It will serve as a reference book covering all the central problems discussed by these seven authors.

An indispensable source for those seriously interested in some rigorous assessments of the ideas of America's two most popular political philosophers, this volume of essays covers a wide range of topics, some engaging each other in their analyses of particular Rawlsian or Nozickian themes. The bibliography provides for the reader the most comprehensive list of primary and secondary literature of philosophical works on Rawls and Nozick. This collection of recent essays brings the student up-to-date concerning some of the more recent developments and assessments of Rawlsian and Nozickian ideas.