This book represents a new approach to philosophy. It treats
philosophy as not a collection of systems, but as a study of
problems. It recognizes in traditional philosophical systems the
historical function of having asked questions rather than having
given solutions. Professor Reichenbach traces the failures of the
systems to psychological causes.
Speculative philosophers offered answers at a time when science had
not yet provided the means to give "true" answers. Their search for
certainty and for moral directives led them to accept
pseudo-solutions. Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, and many others
are cited to illustrate the rationalist fallacy: reason, unaided by
observation, was regarded as a source of knowledge, revealing the
physical world and "moral truth." The empiricists could not
disprove this thesis, for they could not give a valid account of
mathematical knowledge.
Mathematical discoveries in the early nineteenth century cleared
the way for modern scientific philosophy. Its advance was furthered
by discoveries in modern physics, chemistry, biology, and
psychology. These findings have made possible a new conception of
the universe and of the atom. The work of scientists thus altered
philosophy completely and brought into being a philosopher with a
new attitude and training.
Instead of dictating so-called laws of reason to the scientist,
this modern philosopher proceeds by analyzing scientific methods
and results. He finds answers to the age-old questions of space,
time, causality, and life; of the human observer and the external
world. He tells us how to find our way through this world without
resorting to unjustifiable beliefs or assuming a supernatural
origin formoral standards. Philosophy thus is no longer a
battleground of contradictory opinions, but a science discovering
truth step by step.
Professor Reichenbach, known for his many contributions to logic
and the philosophy of science, addresses this book to a wider
audience. He writes for those who do not have the leisure or
preparation to read in the fields of mathematics, symbolic logic,
or physics. Besides showing the principal foundations of the new
philosophy, he has been careful to provide the necessary factual
background. He has written a philosophical study, not a mere
popularization. It contains within its chapters all the necessary
scientific material in an understandable form--and, therefore,
conveys all the information indispensable to a modern
world-view.
The late Hans Reichenbach was Professor of Philosophy at the
University of California, Los Angeles. His previous books include
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