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The Readability of the World (signale|TRANSFER: German Thought in Translation)
by Hans BlumenbergThe Readability of the World represents Hans Blumenberg's first extended demonstration of the metaphorological method he pioneered in Paradigms for a Metaphorology. For Blumenberg, metaphors are symptomatic of patterns of thought and feeling that escape conceptual formulation but are nonetheless indispensable, because they allow humans to orient themselves in an otherwise overwhelming world. The Readability of the World applies this method to the idea that the world presents itself as a book. The metaphor of the book of nature has been central to Western interpretations of reality, and Blumenberg traces the evolution of this metaphor from ancient Greek cosmology to the model of the genetic code to access the different expectations of reality that it articulates, reflects, and projects.Writing with equal authority on literature and science, theology and philosophy, ancient metaphysics and twentieth-century biochemistry, Blumenberg advances rich and original interpretations of the thinking of a range of canonical figures, including Berkeley, Vico, Goethe, Spinoza, Leibniz, Bacon, Flaubert, and Freud. Through his interdisciplinary, anthropologically sharpened gaze, Blumenberg uncovers a wealth of new insights into the continuities and discontinuities across human history of the longing to contain all of nature, history, and reality in a book, from the Bible, the Talmud, and the Qur'an to Diderot's Encyclopedia and Humboldt's Cosmos to the ACGT of the DNA code.
Reforging the Great Chain of Being: Studies of the History of Modal Theories (Synthese Historical Library #20)
by Simo KnuuttilaA sports reporter might say that in a competition all the participants realize their potentialities or possibilities. When an athlete performs far below his usual standard, it can be said that it was possible for him to do better. But the idea of fair play requires that this use of 'possible' refers to another com petition. It is presumed that the best athlete wins and that no real possibility of doing better is left unrealized in a competition. Here we have a use of language, a language game, in which modal notions are used so as to imply that if something is possible, it is realized. This idea does not belong to the general presuppositions of current ordinary usage. It is, nevertheless, not difficult to fmd other similar examples outside of the language of sports. It may be that such a use of modal notions is sometimes calculated to express that in the context in question there are no real alternative courses of events in contradistinction to other cases in which some possible alternatives remain unrealized. Even though modal notions are currently interpreted without the presup position that each genuine possibility should be realized at some moment of the actual history, there are contemporary philosophical models of modalities which incorporate this presupposition. In his book Untersuchungen tiber den Modalkalkiil (Anton Hain, Meisenheim am Glan 1952, pp. 16-36), Oscar Becker presents a statistical interpretation of modal calculi.
A Relational Metaphysic (Studies in Philosophy and Religion #4)
by H.H. OliverC. S. Peirce's indictment that "the chief cause of [metaphysics'] backward condition is that its leading professors have been theo (Collected Papers 6:3) falls heavily at my door. For it logians" was out of reflection upon religious experience and its meaning that the present relational metaphysic was conceived. My hope, however, is that its scope is sufficiently wider than its theological origins to justify its appearance as a work in philosophy. Having been nurtured in existential philosophy and having reached some measure of maturity with the wise counsel of Professor Dr. Fritz Buri, of Basel, I came to feel that theology as a modern discipline had reached an impasse owing to its overextended commitments to a subject-object paradigm of thought. Even those theologians who despaired of these ties seemed unable to find an independent alternative idiom for their ideas. A second tension in my thinking resulted from the inordinate neglect by theologians of the natural world. Also, my natural interest in physical understanding seemed unfulfilled within the narrow confines of theology, even of philosophical theology as then practiced. As I turned decisively toward the study of modern physics, and especially of cosmology, a new world seemed to open up to me. After extensive study with prominent astronomers and physicists, it began to dawn on me that the new physics has devised conceptual paradigms of thought which could be generalized into a metaphysical system of universal interest.
Renaissance Thought and the Arts: Collected Essays
by Paul Oskar KristellerWritten by an eminent authority on the Renaissance, these classic essays deal not only with Paul Kristeller's specialty, Renaissance humanism and philosophy, but also with Renaissance theories of art. The focus of the collection is on topics such as humanist learning, humanist moral thought, the diffusion of humanism, Platonism, music and learning during the early Renaissance, and the modern system of arts in relation to the Renaissance. For this volume the author has written a new preface, a new essay, and an afterword.
Renaissance Thought and the Arts: Collected Essays
by Paul Oskar KristellerWritten by an eminent authority on the Renaissance, these classic essays deal not only with Paul Kristeller's specialty, Renaissance humanism and philosophy, but also with Renaissance theories of art. The focus of the collection is on topics such as humanist learning, humanist moral thought, the diffusion of humanism, Platonism, music and learning during the early Renaissance, and the modern system of arts in relation to the Renaissance. For this volume the author has written a new preface, a new essay, and an afterword.
The Roots of Ethics: Science, Religion, and Values (The Hastings Center Series in Ethics)
by Sidney CallahanOUR AGE IS CHARACTERIZED by an uncertainty about the na ture of moral obligations, about what one can hope for in an afterlife, and about the limits of human knowledge. These uncertainties were captured by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason, where he noted three basic human questions: what can we know, what ought we to do, and what can we hope for. Those questions and the uncer tainties about their answers still in great part define our cultural per spective. In particular, we are not clear about the foundations of ethics, or about their relationship to religion and to science. This volume brings together previously published essays that focus on these inter relationships and their uncertainties. It offers an attempt to sketch the interrelationship among three major intellectual efforts: determining moral obligations, the ultimate purpose and goals of man and the cosmos, and the nature of empirical reality. Though imperfect, it is an effort to frame the unity of the human condition, which is captured in part by ethics, in part by religion, and in part by the sciences. Put another way, this collection of essays springs from an attempt to see the unity of humans who engage in the diverse roles of valuers, be lievers, and knowers, while still remaining single, individual humans.
Russell's Best
by Bertrand Russell Robert E. EgnerFirst published in 1981. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Russell's Best
by Bertrand Russell Robert E. EgnerFirst published in 1981. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Science of Philosophy (Psychology Revivals)
by F. H. GeorgeOriginally published in 1981, this book was an attempt to bridge the gap between scientists and philosophers by viewing philosophy, at least in part, through scientific eyes. Professor George is not here concerned with the philosophy of science. Rather he is looking at classical philosophical issues from the behavioural, or scientific, viewpoint. Thus, from the perspective of science, he attempts to establish an understanding of philosophy. The author intended it primarily for behavioural scientists, systems theorists and cyberneticians of the time who should have been closely bound up with the philosophical-scientific relationship.
The Science of Philosophy (Psychology Revivals)
by F. H. GeorgeOriginally published in 1981, this book was an attempt to bridge the gap between scientists and philosophers by viewing philosophy, at least in part, through scientific eyes. Professor George is not here concerned with the philosophy of science. Rather he is looking at classical philosophical issues from the behavioural, or scientific, viewpoint. Thus, from the perspective of science, he attempts to establish an understanding of philosophy. The author intended it primarily for behavioural scientists, systems theorists and cyberneticians of the time who should have been closely bound up with the philosophical-scientific relationship.
Scientific Knowledge: Causation, Explanation, and Corroboration (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science #69)
by J.H. FetzerWith this defense of intensional realism as a philosophical foundation for understanding scientific procedures and grounding scientific knowledge, James Fetzer provides a systematic alternative to much of recent work on scientific theory. To Fetzer, the current state of understanding the 'laws' of nature, or the 'law-like' statements of scientific theories, appears to be one of philosophical defeat; and he is determined to overcome that defeat. Based upon his incisive advocacy of the single-case propensity interpretation of probability, Fetzer develops a coherent structure within which the central problems of the philosophy of science find their solutions. Whether the reader accepts the author's contentions may, in the end, depend upon ancient choices in the interpretation of experience and explanation, but there can be little doubt of Fetzer's spirited competence in arguing for setting ontology before epistemology, and within the analysis of language. To us, Fetzer's ambition is appealing, fusing, as he says, the substantive commitment of the Popperian with the conscientious sensitivity of the Hempelian to the technical precision required for justified explication. To Fetzer, science is the objective pursuit of fallible general knowledge. This innocent character ization, which we suppose most scientists would welcome, receives a most careful elaboration in this book; it will demand equally careful critical con sideration. Center for the Philosophy and ROBERT S. COHEN History of Science, MARX W. WARTOFSKY Boston University October 1981 v TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL PREFACE v FOREWORD xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv PART I: CAUSATION 1.
Scientific Materialism (Episteme #9)
by M. BungeThe word 'materialism' is ambiguous: it designates a moral doc trine as well as a philosophy and, indeed, an entire world view. Moral materialism is identical with hedonism, or the doctrine that humans should pursue only their own pleasure. Philosophical ma terialismis the view that the real worId is composed exclusively of material things. The two doctrines are logically independent: hedonism is consistent with immaterialism, and materialism is compatible with high minded morals. We shall be concerned ex c1usively with philosophical materialism. And we shall not confuse it with realism, or the epistemological doctrine that knowIedge, or at any rate scientific knowledge, attempts to represent reality. Philosophical materialism is not a recent fad and it is not a solid block: it is as old as philosophy and it has gone through six quite different stages. The first was ancient materialism, centered around Greek and Indian atomism. The second was the revival of the first during the 17th century. The third was 18th century ma terialism, partly derived from one side of Descartes' ambiguous legacy. The fourth was the mid-19th century "scientific" material ism, which flourished mainly in Germany and England, and was tied to the upsurge of chemistry and biology. The fifth was dialec tical and historical materialism, which accompanied the consolida tion of the socialist ideology. And the sixth or current stage, evolved mainly by Australian and American philosophers, is aca demic and nonpartisan but otherwise very heterogeneous. Ancient materialism was thoroughly mechanistic.
Scientific Progress: A Study Concerning the Nature of the Relation Between Successive Scientific Theories (Synthese Library #153)
by Craig DilworthFor the philosopher interested in the idea of objective knowledge of the real world, the nature of science is of special importance, for science, and more particularly physics, is today considered to be paradigmatic in its affording of such knowledge. And no understand ing of science is complete until it includes an appreciation of the nature of the relation between successive scientific theories-that is, until it includes a conception of scientific progress. Now it might be suggested by some that there are a variety of ways in which science progresses, or that there are a number of different notions of scientific progress, not all of which concern the relation between successive scientific theories. For example, it may be thought that science progresses through the application of scientific method to areas where it has not previously been applied, or, through the development of individual theories. However, it is here suggested that the application of the methods of science to new areas does not concern forward progress so much as lateral expansion, and that the provision of a conception of how individual theories develop would lack the generality expected of an account concerning the progress of science itself.
Semantical Investigations in Heyting's Intuitionistic Logic (Synthese Library #148)
by Dov M. GabbayFrom the point of view of non-classical logics, Heyting's implication is the smallest implication for which the deduction theorem holds. This book studies properties of logical systems having some of the classical connectives and implication in the neighbourhood of Heyt ing's implication. I have not included anything on entailment, al though it belongs to this neighbourhood, mainly because of the appearance of the Anderson-Belnap book on entailment. In the later chapters of this book, I have included material that might be of interest to the intuitionist mathematician. Originally, I intended to include more material in that spirit but I decided against it. There is no coherent body of material to include that builds naturally on the present book. There are some serious results on topological models, second order Beth and Kripke models, theories of types, etc., but it would require further research to be able to present a general theory, possibly using sheaves. That would have postponed pUblication for too long. I would like to dedicate this book to my colleagues, Professors G. Kreisel, M.O. Rabin and D. Scott. I have benefited greatly from Professor Kreisel's criticism and suggestions. Professor Rabin's fun damental results on decidability and undecidability provided the powerful tools used in obtaining the majority of the results reported in this book. Professor Scott's approach to non-classical logics and especially his analysis of the Scott consequence relation makes it possible to present Heyting's logic as a beautiful, integral part of non-classical logics.
Set Theory and Model Theory: Proceedings of an Informal Symposium Held at Bonn, June 1-3, 1979 (Lecture Notes in Mathematics #872)
by R. B. Jensen A. Prestel
Social History of Nineteenth Century Mathematics
by Mehrtens Hendrik (Short Hendriks Ivo SchneiderDuring the last few decades historians of science have shown a growing interest in science as a cultural activity and have regarded science more and more as part of the gene ral developments that have occurred in society. This trend has been less evident arnong historians of mathematics, who traditionally concentrate primarily on tracing the develop ment of mathematical knowledge itself. To some degree this restriction is connected with the special role of mathematics compared with the other sciences; mathematics typifies the most objective, most coercive type of knowledge, and there fore seems to be least affected by social influences. Nevertheless, biography, institutional history and his tory of national developments have long been elements in the historiography of mathematics. This interest in the social aspects of mathematics has widened recently through the stu dy of other themes, such as the relation of mathematics to the development of the educational system. Some scholars have begun to apply the methods of historical sociology of knowledge to mathematics; others have attempted to give a ix x Marxist analysis of the connection between mathematics and productive forces, and there have been philosophical studies about the communication processes involved in the production of mathematical knowledge. An interest in causal analyses of historical processes has led to the study of other factors influencing the development of mathematics, such as the f- mation of mathematical schools, the changes in the profes- onal situation of the mathematician and the general cultural milieu of the mathematical scientist.
Soziologische Aufklärung 3: Soziales System, Gesellschaft, Organisation
by Niklas LuhmannUnbeirrt hält auch diese Sammlung soziologischer Studien an dem Titel "Aufklä rung" fest. Wer die soziologische Literatur des letzten Jahrzehnts soziologisch, das heißt mit Sinn für Realität betrachtet, wird wenig finden, was diesen Anspruch rechtfertigen könnte. Er ist stärker umstritten als je zuvor. Die Dreieinigkeit von Aufklärung, Vernunft und Politik hat keinen Ankerpunkt in der Realität gefunden. Sie hatte ganz und gar auf Zukunft gesetzt und kontrafaktisch auf ihre eigene Normativität. So groß bemessene Gesten vermögen jedoch kaum noch zu überzeugen. Wie sollte man heute angesichts bedrängender Zukunftssorgen sich auf das verlassen können, was als Zukunft impliziert war? Lieber flüchtet man unter die Fittiche der Klassi ker, die prinzipiell endlose Möglichkeiten der Interpretation und damit einen Schutz gegen Gedanken- und Arbeitslosigkeit zu bieten scheinen. Neben der Exe gese der Klassiker bietet auch die Exegese selbstproduzierter Daten Möglichkeiten zur Variation soziologischer Aussagen. All das sind berechtigte Wege der Forschung und des Erkenntnisgewinns, aber Exegese ist keine Aufklärung.
Spurs: Nietzsche's Styles/Eperons: Les Styles de Nietzsche
by Jacques DerridaNietzsche has recently enjoyed much scrutiny from the nouveaux critiques. Jacques Derrida, the leader of that movement, here combines in his strikingly original and incisive fashion questions of sexuality, politics, writing, judgment, procreation, death, and even the weather into a far-reaching analysis of the challenges bequeathed to the modern world by Nietzsche. Spurs, then, is aptly titled, for Derrida's "deconstructions" of Nietzsche's meanings will surely act as spurs to further thought and controversy. This dual-language edition offers the English-speaking reader who has some knowledge of French an opportunity to examine the stylistic virtuosity of Derrida's writing—of particular significance for his analysis of "the question of style."
The Structure of the World in Udayana’s Realism: A Study of the Lakṣaṇāvalī and theKiraṇāvalī (Studies of Classical India #4)
by M. Tachikawa
Strukturalistische Rekonstruktionen: Untersuchungen zur Bedeutung, Weiterentwicklung und interdisziplinären Anwendung des strukturalistischen Konzepts wissenschaftlicher Theorien (Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaft und Philosophie #18)
by Werner Diederich
The Talking Cure: Essays in Psychoanalysis and Language (Language, Discourse, Society)
by Colin MacCabe'The essays are exemplary in their stylistic clarity. One can only compliment MacCabe along with the contributors, for the readability and conceptual variability of this collection. 'E.Ragland-Sullivan, Lacan Study Notes This book, which grew out of a series of seminars at King's College, Cambridge, addresses itself to the problem of understanding the relations between psychoanalysis and language not only in terms of contemporary linguistic and philosophical conceptions of language but also in relation to the wider field of the human sciences.
Theory Change, Ancient Axiomatics, and Galileo’s Methodology: Proceedings of the 1978 Pisa Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science Volume I (Synthese Library #145)
by Jaakko Hintikka D. Gruender E. AgazziProceedings of the 1978 Pisa, Italy, September 4-8, 1978 Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science