Charles Travis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291465
- eISBN:
- 9780191710667
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291465.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This book is an enquiry into the relationship between the ways things are and the way we think and talk about them. It is also a study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: the author ...
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This book is an enquiry into the relationship between the ways things are and the way we think and talk about them. It is also a study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: the author develops his account of certain key themes into a unified view of the work as a whole. His methodological starting-point is to see Wittgenstein's work as a response to Frege's. The central question is: how does thought get its footing? How can the thought that things are a certain way be connected to things being that way? The second key theme is this: a representation of things as being a certain way cannot take the right form for truth-bearing without a background of agreement in judgements: its form must belong to thinkers of a given kind. The third key theme is that the proprietary perceptions of a given sort of thinker, as to what would be a case of judging when there is a particular way for things to be, is not subject to criticism from outside it. The author's distinctive take on such topics as the problem of singular thought, the notion of a proposition, rule-following, sense and nonsense, the possibility of private language, and the representational content of experience is presented.Less
This book is an enquiry into the relationship between the ways things are and the way we think and talk about them. It is also a study of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: the author develops his account of certain key themes into a unified view of the work as a whole. His methodological starting-point is to see Wittgenstein's work as a response to Frege's. The central question is: how does thought get its footing? How can the thought that things are a certain way be connected to things being that way? The second key theme is this: a representation of things as being a certain way cannot take the right form for truth-bearing without a background of agreement in judgements: its form must belong to thinkers of a given kind. The third key theme is that the proprietary perceptions of a given sort of thinker, as to what would be a case of judging when there is a particular way for things to be, is not subject to criticism from outside it. The author's distinctive take on such topics as the problem of singular thought, the notion of a proposition, rule-following, sense and nonsense, the possibility of private language, and the representational content of experience is presented.
Paul Horwich
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199251247
- eISBN:
- 9780191603983
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925124X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
The broad aim of this work is to explain how mere noises, marks, gestures, and mental/neural symbols are able to capture the world, that is, how words and sentences (in whatever medium) come to mean ...
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The broad aim of this work is to explain how mere noises, marks, gestures, and mental/neural symbols are able to capture the world, that is, how words and sentences (in whatever medium) come to mean what they do, to stand for certain things, to be true or false of reality. Paul Horwich’s answer takes off from Wittgenstein’s appealingly demystifying remark, that the meaning of a term is nothing over and above its use, and proceeds with a groundbreaking articulation and defence of that idea, showing how it can deal successfully with Quinean and Kripkean forms of scepticism about meaning, with the various normative features of thought and language, with the paradoxical phenomenon of vagueness, with the way that word-meanings combine to yield sentence-meanings, and with Chomsky-style models of the language faculty. The main lines of this theory were first suggested in Horwich’s 1998 book, Meaning. The present volume (which requires no familiarity with its predecessor) provides a host of improved, formulations, fresh arguments, responses to criticism, and extensions of the position into new areas.Less
The broad aim of this work is to explain how mere noises, marks, gestures, and mental/neural symbols are able to capture the world, that is, how words and sentences (in whatever medium) come to mean what they do, to stand for certain things, to be true or false of reality. Paul Horwich’s answer takes off from Wittgenstein’s appealingly demystifying remark, that the meaning of a term is nothing over and above its use, and proceeds with a groundbreaking articulation and defence of that idea, showing how it can deal successfully with Quinean and Kripkean forms of scepticism about meaning, with the various normative features of thought and language, with the paradoxical phenomenon of vagueness, with the way that word-meanings combine to yield sentence-meanings, and with Chomsky-style models of the language faculty. The main lines of this theory were first suggested in Horwich’s 1998 book, Meaning. The present volume (which requires no familiarity with its predecessor) provides a host of improved, formulations, fresh arguments, responses to criticism, and extensions of the position into new areas.
Cressida J. Heyes
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310535
- eISBN:
- 9780199871445
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310535.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This book argues that we live in an age of somatic subjects, whose authentic identity must be represented through the body. When a perceived mismatch between inner self and outer form occurs, ...
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This book argues that we live in an age of somatic subjects, whose authentic identity must be represented through the body. When a perceived mismatch between inner self and outer form occurs, technologies can step in to change the flesh. Drawing on Wittgenstein's objections to the idea of a private language, and on Foucault's critical account of normalization, this book shows how we have been led to think of ourselves in this way, and suggests that breaking the hold of this picture of the self will be central to our freedom. How should we work on ourselves when so often the kind of self we are urged to be is itself a product of normalization? This question is answered through three case studies that analyze feminist interpretations of transgender politics, the allure of weight-loss dieting, and representations of cosmetic surgery patients. Mixing philosophical argument with personal narrative and analysis of popular culture, the book moves from engagement with Leslie Feinberg on trans liberation, to an auto-ethnography of Weight Watchers meetings, to a reading of Extreme Makeover, to the author's own practice of yoga. The book draws on philosophy, sociology, medicine, cultural studies, and psychology to suggest that these examples, in different ways, are connected to the picture of the somatic subject. Working on the self can both generate new skills and make us more docile; enhance our pleasures and narrow our possibilities; encourage us to take care of ourselves while increasing our dependence on experts. Self transformation through the body can limit us and liberate us at the same time. To move beyond this paradox, the book concludes by arguing that Foucault's last work on ethics provides untapped resources for understanding how we might use our embodied agency to change ourselves for the better.Less
This book argues that we live in an age of somatic subjects, whose authentic identity must be represented through the body. When a perceived mismatch between inner self and outer form occurs, technologies can step in to change the flesh. Drawing on Wittgenstein's objections to the idea of a private language, and on Foucault's critical account of normalization, this book shows how we have been led to think of ourselves in this way, and suggests that breaking the hold of this picture of the self will be central to our freedom. How should we work on ourselves when so often the kind of self we are urged to be is itself a product of normalization? This question is answered through three case studies that analyze feminist interpretations of transgender politics, the allure of weight-loss dieting, and representations of cosmetic surgery patients. Mixing philosophical argument with personal narrative and analysis of popular culture, the book moves from engagement with Leslie Feinberg on trans liberation, to an auto-ethnography of Weight Watchers meetings, to a reading of Extreme Makeover, to the author's own practice of yoga. The book draws on philosophy, sociology, medicine, cultural studies, and psychology to suggest that these examples, in different ways, are connected to the picture of the somatic subject. Working on the self can both generate new skills and make us more docile; enhance our pleasures and narrow our possibilities; encourage us to take care of ourselves while increasing our dependence on experts. Self transformation through the body can limit us and liberate us at the same time. To move beyond this paradox, the book concludes by arguing that Foucault's last work on ethics provides untapped resources for understanding how we might use our embodied agency to change ourselves for the better.
Michael Potter
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199252619
- eISBN:
- 9780191712647
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252619.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This book is a critical examination of the astonishing progress made in the philosophical study of the properties of the natural numbers from the 1880s to the 1930s. It reassesses the brilliant ...
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This book is a critical examination of the astonishing progress made in the philosophical study of the properties of the natural numbers from the 1880s to the 1930s. It reassesses the brilliant innovations of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and others, which transformed philosophy as well as the understanding of mathematics. The book argues that through the problem of arithmetic participates in the larger puzzle of the relationship between thought, language, experience, and the world, we can distinguish accounts that look to each of these to supply the content we require: those that involve the structure of our experience of the world; those that explicitly involve our grasp of a ‘third realm’ of abstract objects distinct from the concrete objects of the empirical world and the ideas of the author's private Gedankenwelt; those that appeal to something non-physical that is nevertheless an aspect of reality in harmony with which the physical aspect of the world is configured; and finally those that involve only our grasp of language.Less
This book is a critical examination of the astonishing progress made in the philosophical study of the properties of the natural numbers from the 1880s to the 1930s. It reassesses the brilliant innovations of Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, and others, which transformed philosophy as well as the understanding of mathematics. The book argues that through the problem of arithmetic participates in the larger puzzle of the relationship between thought, language, experience, and the world, we can distinguish accounts that look to each of these to supply the content we require: those that involve the structure of our experience of the world; those that explicitly involve our grasp of a ‘third realm’ of abstract objects distinct from the concrete objects of the empirical world and the ideas of the author's private Gedankenwelt; those that appeal to something non-physical that is nevertheless an aspect of reality in harmony with which the physical aspect of the world is configured; and finally those that involve only our grasp of language.
Garry Hagberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199234226
- eISBN:
- 9780191715440
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
The voluminous writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein contain some of the most profound reflections of our time on the nature of the human subject and self-understanding — the human condition, ...
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The voluminous writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein contain some of the most profound reflections of our time on the nature of the human subject and self-understanding — the human condition, philosophically speaking. This book mimes those extensive writings for a conception of the self. And more specifically, the book offers a discussion of Wittgenstein's later writings on language and mind as they hold special significance for the understanding and clarification of the distinctive character of self-descriptive or autobiographical language. The book also undertakes a philosophical investigation of selected autobiographical writings — among the best examples we have of human selves exploring themselves — as they cast new and special light on the critique of mind-body dualism and its undercurrents in particular, and on the nature of autobiographical consciousness more generally. The chapters take up in turn the topics of self-consciousness, what Wittgenstein calls ‘the inner picture’; mental privacy and the picture of metaphysical seclusion; the very idea of our observation of the contents of consciousness; first-person expressive speech; reflexive or self-directed thought and competing pictures of introspection; the nuances of retrospective self-understanding, person-perception, and the corollary issues of self-perception (itself an interestingly dangerous phrase); self-defining memory; and the therapeutic conception of philosophical progress as it applies to all of these issues. The cast of characters interwoven throughout the discussion include, in addition to Wittgenstein centrally, Augustine, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Iris Murdoch, Donald Davidson, and Stanley Cavell, among others.Less
The voluminous writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein contain some of the most profound reflections of our time on the nature of the human subject and self-understanding — the human condition, philosophically speaking. This book mimes those extensive writings for a conception of the self. And more specifically, the book offers a discussion of Wittgenstein's later writings on language and mind as they hold special significance for the understanding and clarification of the distinctive character of self-descriptive or autobiographical language. The book also undertakes a philosophical investigation of selected autobiographical writings — among the best examples we have of human selves exploring themselves — as they cast new and special light on the critique of mind-body dualism and its undercurrents in particular, and on the nature of autobiographical consciousness more generally. The chapters take up in turn the topics of self-consciousness, what Wittgenstein calls ‘the inner picture’; mental privacy and the picture of metaphysical seclusion; the very idea of our observation of the contents of consciousness; first-person expressive speech; reflexive or self-directed thought and competing pictures of introspection; the nuances of retrospective self-understanding, person-perception, and the corollary issues of self-perception (itself an interestingly dangerous phrase); self-defining memory; and the therapeutic conception of philosophical progress as it applies to all of these issues. The cast of characters interwoven throughout the discussion include, in addition to Wittgenstein centrally, Augustine, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Iris Murdoch, Donald Davidson, and Stanley Cavell, among others.
Malcolm Budd
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199556175
- eISBN:
- 9780191721151
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556175.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
The book contains a selection of essays on aesthetics, some of which have been revised or added to. A number of the essays are aimed at the abstract heart of aesthetics, attempting to solve a cluster ...
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The book contains a selection of essays on aesthetics, some of which have been revised or added to. A number of the essays are aimed at the abstract heart of aesthetics, attempting to solve a cluster of the most important issues in aesthetics which are not specific to particular art forms. These include the nature and proper scope of the aesthetic, the intersubjective validity of aesthetic judgements, the correct understanding of aesthetic judgements expressed through metaphors, aesthetic realism versus anti-realism, the character of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic value, the aim of art, and the artistic expression of emotion. Others are focussed on central issues in the aesthetics of particular art forms: two engage with the most fundamental issue in the aesthetics of music, the question of the correct conception of the phenomenology of the experience of listening to music with understanding; and two consider the nature of pictorial representation, one examining the well-known views of Ernst Gombich, Richard Wollheim, and Kendall Walton, the other articulating an alternative conception of seeing a picture as a depiction of a certain state of affairs. The final essay in the book is a comprehensive reconstruction and critical examination of Wittgenstein's aesthetics, both early and late.Less
The book contains a selection of essays on aesthetics, some of which have been revised or added to. A number of the essays are aimed at the abstract heart of aesthetics, attempting to solve a cluster of the most important issues in aesthetics which are not specific to particular art forms. These include the nature and proper scope of the aesthetic, the intersubjective validity of aesthetic judgements, the correct understanding of aesthetic judgements expressed through metaphors, aesthetic realism versus anti-realism, the character of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic value, the aim of art, and the artistic expression of emotion. Others are focussed on central issues in the aesthetics of particular art forms: two engage with the most fundamental issue in the aesthetics of music, the question of the correct conception of the phenomenology of the experience of listening to music with understanding; and two consider the nature of pictorial representation, one examining the well-known views of Ernst Gombich, Richard Wollheim, and Kendall Walton, the other articulating an alternative conception of seeing a picture as a depiction of a certain state of affairs. The final essay in the book is a comprehensive reconstruction and critical examination of Wittgenstein's aesthetics, both early and late.
Genia Schönbaumsfeld
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199229826
- eISBN:
- 9780191710766
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229826.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the ...
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Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the relationship between their ideas. This book attempts both to close this gap and to offer important independent readings of Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conceptions of philosophy and religious belief. Chapter 1 carefully documents Kierkegaard's influence on Wittgenstein, while Chapters 2 and 3 provide trenchant criticisms of two prominent attempts that have been made to compare the two thinkers — those of D. Z. Phillips and James Conant. Chapter 4 develops Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's concerted criticisms of certain standard conception of religious belief, and defends their own positive conception against the common charges of ‘fideism’ and ‘irrationalism’. As well as contributing to the contemporary debate about how to read Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's work, this book addresses issues of central concern not only to scholars of Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard, but to anyone interested in issues surrounding the philosophy of religion, or the ethical aspects of philosophical practice as such.Less
Cursory allusions to the relation between Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are common in philosophical literature, but there has been little in the way of serious and comprehensive commentary on the relationship between their ideas. This book attempts both to close this gap and to offer important independent readings of Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's conceptions of philosophy and religious belief. Chapter 1 carefully documents Kierkegaard's influence on Wittgenstein, while Chapters 2 and 3 provide trenchant criticisms of two prominent attempts that have been made to compare the two thinkers — those of D. Z. Phillips and James Conant. Chapter 4 develops Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's concerted criticisms of certain standard conception of religious belief, and defends their own positive conception against the common charges of ‘fideism’ and ‘irrationalism’. As well as contributing to the contemporary debate about how to read Kierkegaard's and Wittgenstein's work, this book addresses issues of central concern not only to scholars of Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard, but to anyone interested in issues surrounding the philosophy of religion, or the ethical aspects of philosophical practice as such.
Michael Potter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199215836
- eISBN:
- 9780191721243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215836.003.0099
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This introductory chapter discusses the theoretical approach used in this book, which focuses on Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic. Wittgenstein wrote the Tractatus during the First World War, but it had ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theoretical approach used in this book, which focuses on Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic. Wittgenstein wrote the Tractatus during the First World War, but it had its birth in the two years he spent working in Cambridge with Russell between 1911 and 1913. He compiled the Notes on Logic at the very end of that period, as a summary for Russell of the work he had accomplished. The destruction of his notebooks makes the Notes almost the only guide to the work he had been doing in Cambridge. Studying them provides insight on which of his ideas Wittgenstein owed to this period, and which to the very different circumstances in which he worked later, first in Norway and then on active service during the war. It also lays bare some of the influences which helped to form Wittgenstein's views.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the theoretical approach used in this book, which focuses on Wittgenstein's Notes on Logic. Wittgenstein wrote the Tractatus during the First World War, but it had its birth in the two years he spent working in Cambridge with Russell between 1911 and 1913. He compiled the Notes on Logic at the very end of that period, as a summary for Russell of the work he had accomplished. The destruction of his notebooks makes the Notes almost the only guide to the work he had been doing in Cambridge. Studying them provides insight on which of his ideas Wittgenstein owed to this period, and which to the very different circumstances in which he worked later, first in Norway and then on active service during the war. It also lays bare some of the influences which helped to form Wittgenstein's views.
Jason A. Springs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195395044
- eISBN:
- 9780199866243
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195395044.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ...
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Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ordinary language philosophy and nonfoundational philosophical insights, while illuminating and expanding his orientational indebtedness to Karl Barth's theology. By placing Frei's work into critical conversation with developments in pragmatist thought and cultural theory since his death, the rereading of Frei offered here aims to correct and resolve many of the complaints and misunderstandings that vex his theological legacy. The result is a clarification of the unity and coherence of Frei's work over the course of his career; a reframing of the complex relationship of his work to that of his Yale colleague George Lindbeck and successive "postliberal" theological trends; demonstration that Frei's uses of Barth, Wittgenstein, Auerbach, and Geertz do not relegate his theological approach to critical quietism, methodological separatism, epistemic fideism, or a so-called "theological ghetto"; explication and development of Frei's account of the "plain sense" of Scripture that evades charges of narrative foundationalism and essentialism on one hand and, on the other, avoids criticisms that any account so emphasizing culture, language, and practice will reduce scriptural meaning to the ways the text is used in Christian practice and community. What emerges from Toward a Generous Orthodoxy is a sharpened account of the christologically anchored, interdisciplinary, and conversational character of Frei's theology, which he came to describe as a "generous orthodoxy," modeling a way for academic theological voices to take seriously both their vocation to the Christian church and their roles as interlocutors in the academic discourse.Less
Toward a Generous Orthodoxy provides a refined exposition of Hans Frei's christologically motivated engagement with Ludwig Wittgenstein, Clifford Geertz, Erich Auerbach, his use of ordinary language philosophy and nonfoundational philosophical insights, while illuminating and expanding his orientational indebtedness to Karl Barth's theology. By placing Frei's work into critical conversation with developments in pragmatist thought and cultural theory since his death, the rereading of Frei offered here aims to correct and resolve many of the complaints and misunderstandings that vex his theological legacy. The result is a clarification of the unity and coherence of Frei's work over the course of his career; a reframing of the complex relationship of his work to that of his Yale colleague George Lindbeck and successive "postliberal" theological trends; demonstration that Frei's uses of Barth, Wittgenstein, Auerbach, and Geertz do not relegate his theological approach to critical quietism, methodological separatism, epistemic fideism, or a so-called "theological ghetto"; explication and development of Frei's account of the "plain sense" of Scripture that evades charges of narrative foundationalism and essentialism on one hand and, on the other, avoids criticisms that any account so emphasizing culture, language, and practice will reduce scriptural meaning to the ways the text is used in Christian practice and community. What emerges from Toward a Generous Orthodoxy is a sharpened account of the christologically anchored, interdisciplinary, and conversational character of Frei's theology, which he came to describe as a "generous orthodoxy," modeling a way for academic theological voices to take seriously both their vocation to the Christian church and their roles as interlocutors in the academic discourse.
José L. Zalabardo (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199691524
- eISBN:
- 9780191742262
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199691524.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book collects nine previously unpublished works on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, focusing mainly on his early work. They cover a wide range of aspects of Wittgenstein's early ...
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This book collects nine previously unpublished works on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, focusing mainly on his early work. They cover a wide range of aspects of Wittgenstein's early philosophy, but they can be broadly clustered as focusing on three areas: the relationship between Wittgenstein's account of representation and Russell's theories of judgment, the role of objects in the tractarian system and Wittgenstein's philosophical method.Less
This book collects nine previously unpublished works on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, focusing mainly on his early work. They cover a wide range of aspects of Wittgenstein's early philosophy, but they can be broadly clustered as focusing on three areas: the relationship between Wittgenstein's account of representation and Russell's theories of judgment, the role of objects in the tractarian system and Wittgenstein's philosophical method.
Charles Travis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199596218
- eISBN:
- 9780191595783
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199596218.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Thought, to be thought at all, must be about a world independent of us. But thinking takes capacities for thought, which inevitably shape thought's objects. What would count as something being ...
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Thought, to be thought at all, must be about a world independent of us. But thinking takes capacities for thought, which inevitably shape thought's objects. What would count as something being green—so when it would be true that it was—is identified, somehow, by what those who have being green in mind, are prepared to recognize. Which can make it seem that what is true, and what not, is not independent of us. In which case our thought is not really about an independent world—so not really thought at all. Two apparent truisms thus form an apparent paradox. Much philosophy, from Locke to Quine, from Kant to Frege to Wittgenstein, to Putnam, to John McDowell, is a response to this, often dominated by it. This book contains eleven chapters, each working in its own way towards dissolving this air of paradox, and towards giving the role of the parochial in our thought—features of our thought which need not belong to all thought—its proper, unthreatening, due.Less
Thought, to be thought at all, must be about a world independent of us. But thinking takes capacities for thought, which inevitably shape thought's objects. What would count as something being green—so when it would be true that it was—is identified, somehow, by what those who have being green in mind, are prepared to recognize. Which can make it seem that what is true, and what not, is not independent of us. In which case our thought is not really about an independent world—so not really thought at all. Two apparent truisms thus form an apparent paradox. Much philosophy, from Locke to Quine, from Kant to Frege to Wittgenstein, to Putnam, to John McDowell, is a response to this, often dominated by it. This book contains eleven chapters, each working in its own way towards dissolving this air of paradox, and towards giving the role of the parochial in our thought—features of our thought which need not belong to all thought—its proper, unthreatening, due.
Peter Hylton
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199286355
- eISBN:
- 9780191713309
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286355.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
The work of Bertrand Russell had a decisive influence on the emergence of analytic philosophy, and on its subsequent development. The essays collected in this volume, by one of the authorities on ...
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The work of Bertrand Russell had a decisive influence on the emergence of analytic philosophy, and on its subsequent development. The essays collected in this volume, by one of the authorities on Russell's philosophy, all aim at recapturing and articulating aspects of Russell's philosophical vision during his most influential and important period, the two decades following his break with Idealism in 1899. One theme of the collection concerns Russell's views about propositions and their analysis, and the relation of those ideas to his rejection of Idealism. Another theme is the development of Russell's logicism, culminating in Whitehead's and Russell's Principia Mathematica, and the author offers a revealing view of the conception of logic that underlies it. Here again there is an emphasis on Russell's argument against Idealism, on the idea that his logicism was a crucial part of that argument. A further focus of the volume is Russell's views about functions and propositional functions. This theme is part of a contrast that the author draws between Russell's general philosophical position and that of Frege; in particular, there is a close parallel with the quite different views that the two philosophers held about the nature of philosophical analysis. The author also sheds light on the much-disputed idea of an operation, which Wittgenstein advances in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.Less
The work of Bertrand Russell had a decisive influence on the emergence of analytic philosophy, and on its subsequent development. The essays collected in this volume, by one of the authorities on Russell's philosophy, all aim at recapturing and articulating aspects of Russell's philosophical vision during his most influential and important period, the two decades following his break with Idealism in 1899. One theme of the collection concerns Russell's views about propositions and their analysis, and the relation of those ideas to his rejection of Idealism. Another theme is the development of Russell's logicism, culminating in Whitehead's and Russell's Principia Mathematica, and the author offers a revealing view of the conception of logic that underlies it. Here again there is an emphasis on Russell's argument against Idealism, on the idea that his logicism was a crucial part of that argument. A further focus of the volume is Russell's views about functions and propositional functions. This theme is part of a contrast that the author draws between Russell's general philosophical position and that of Frege; in particular, there is a close parallel with the quite different views that the two philosophers held about the nature of philosophical analysis. The author also sheds light on the much-disputed idea of an operation, which Wittgenstein advances in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.
Barbara Hannan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378948
- eISBN:
- 9780199869589
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378948.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book is an introduction to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The peculiar inconsistencies and tensions in Schopenhauer's thought are emphasized. A main theme of the book is that ...
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This book is an introduction to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The peculiar inconsistencies and tensions in Schopenhauer's thought are emphasized. A main theme of the book is that Schopenhauer was torn between realism and anti-realism, and between denial and affirmation of the individual will. A useful summary of Schopenhauer's main ideas is provided. In addition, the book connects Schopenhauer's thought with ongoing debates in philosophy. The book argues that Schopenhauer was struggling half-consciously to break altogether with Kant and transcendental idealism and that the anti-Kantian features of Schopenhauer's thought possess the most lasting value. Schopenhauer's panpsychist metaphysics of will is defended, and compared favorably with contemporary views according to which causal power is metaphysically basic. Schopenhauer's ethics of compassion is also defended against Kant's ethics of pure reason. Friendly amendments are offered to Schopenhauer's theories of art, music, and “salvation.” The book illuminates the deep connection between Schopenhauer and the early Wittgenstein, as well as Schopenhauer's influence on existentialism and psychoanalytic thought.Less
This book is an introduction to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The peculiar inconsistencies and tensions in Schopenhauer's thought are emphasized. A main theme of the book is that Schopenhauer was torn between realism and anti-realism, and between denial and affirmation of the individual will. A useful summary of Schopenhauer's main ideas is provided. In addition, the book connects Schopenhauer's thought with ongoing debates in philosophy. The book argues that Schopenhauer was struggling half-consciously to break altogether with Kant and transcendental idealism and that the anti-Kantian features of Schopenhauer's thought possess the most lasting value. Schopenhauer's panpsychist metaphysics of will is defended, and compared favorably with contemporary views according to which causal power is metaphysically basic. Schopenhauer's ethics of compassion is also defended against Kant's ethics of pure reason. Friendly amendments are offered to Schopenhauer's theories of art, music, and “salvation.” The book illuminates the deep connection between Schopenhauer and the early Wittgenstein, as well as Schopenhauer's influence on existentialism and psychoanalytic thought.
David Pears
- Published in print:
- 1987
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198247708
- eISBN:
- 9780191598203
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198247702.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This is the first of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the pre‐1929 writings. Part I of the first volume consists in a brief but ...
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This is the first of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the pre‐1929 writings. Part I of the first volume consists in a brief but eloquent overview of Wittgenstein's philosophy as a whole; Part II critically examines the earlier system, delineating and evaluating the central ideas (logical atomism, picture theory of meaning, and solipsism) with intellectual rigour and clarity. Pears succeeds in both offering an original realist interpretation of Wittgenstein's earlier thought, one that has found many followers, and in demarcating a structural framework that makes the internal organization of Wittgenstein's philosophy as a whole more accessible.Less
This is the first of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the pre‐1929 writings. Part I of the first volume consists in a brief but eloquent overview of Wittgenstein's philosophy as a whole; Part II critically examines the earlier system, delineating and evaluating the central ideas (logical atomism, picture theory of meaning, and solipsism) with intellectual rigour and clarity. Pears succeeds in both offering an original realist interpretation of Wittgenstein's earlier thought, one that has found many followers, and in demarcating a structural framework that makes the internal organization of Wittgenstein's philosophy as a whole more accessible.
Patrick Greenough and Michael P. Lynch (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199288878
- eISBN:
- 9780191594304
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288878.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the ...
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Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the proper methodology for addressing them, and wonder whether either question is worth pursuing. In so doing, they carry on a long and esteemed tradition – for our two questions are among the oldest of philosophical issues, and have vexed almost every major philosopher, from Plato, to Kant to Wittgenstein. Fifteen contributors bring fresh perspectives, renewed energy and original answers to debates that have been the focus of a tremendous amount of interest in the last three decades, both within philosophy and the culture at large.Less
Is truth objective or relative? What exists independently of our minds? This book is about these two questions. The essays in its pages variously defend and critique answers to each, grapple over the proper methodology for addressing them, and wonder whether either question is worth pursuing. In so doing, they carry on a long and esteemed tradition – for our two questions are among the oldest of philosophical issues, and have vexed almost every major philosopher, from Plato, to Kant to Wittgenstein. Fifteen contributors bring fresh perspectives, renewed energy and original answers to debates that have been the focus of a tremendous amount of interest in the last three decades, both within philosophy and the culture at large.
Grant Gillett
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198239932
- eISBN:
- 9780191680045
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198239932.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind
This study examines the relationship between thought and language by considering the views of Kant and the later Wittgenstein alongside many strands of contemporary debate in the area of mental ...
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This study examines the relationship between thought and language by considering the views of Kant and the later Wittgenstein alongside many strands of contemporary debate in the area of mental content. Building on an analysis of the nature of concepts and conceptions of objects, the book develops an account of psychological explanation and the subject of experience. It offers a novel perspective on mental representation and linguistic meaning which accommodates the vexed topics of cognitive roles and singular thought. It concludes by outlining certain considerations relevant to sceptical arguments and the nature of perception. The book's analysis produces correlations with current work in cognitive and developmental psychology, and is directly relevant to continuing work in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophical psychology.Less
This study examines the relationship between thought and language by considering the views of Kant and the later Wittgenstein alongside many strands of contemporary debate in the area of mental content. Building on an analysis of the nature of concepts and conceptions of objects, the book develops an account of psychological explanation and the subject of experience. It offers a novel perspective on mental representation and linguistic meaning which accommodates the vexed topics of cognitive roles and singular thought. It concludes by outlining certain considerations relevant to sceptical arguments and the nature of perception. The book's analysis produces correlations with current work in cognitive and developmental psychology, and is directly relevant to continuing work in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophical psychology.
Paul Horwich
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199251261
- eISBN:
- 9780191602252
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251266.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book features ten essays written by Paul Horwich in the 1980s and 1990s. They illustrate his deflationary perspective on the nature of truth, realism vs antirealism, the creation of meaning, ...
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This book features ten essays written by Paul Horwich in the 1980s and 1990s. They illustrate his deflationary perspective on the nature of truth, realism vs antirealism, the creation of meaning, epistemic rationality, the conceptual role of ‘ought,’ probabilistic models of scientific reasoning, and the trajectory of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.Less
This book features ten essays written by Paul Horwich in the 1980s and 1990s. They illustrate his deflationary perspective on the nature of truth, realism vs antirealism, the creation of meaning, epistemic rationality, the conceptual role of ‘ought,’ probabilistic models of scientific reasoning, and the trajectory of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.
Noam Reisner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572625
- eISBN:
- 9780191721892
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572625.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This brief epilogue offers a quotation from Wittgenstein's letters about poetry as a concluding remark for the book as a whole, and speculates whether or not Wittgenstein — a philosopher everywhere ...
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This brief epilogue offers a quotation from Wittgenstein's letters about poetry as a concluding remark for the book as a whole, and speculates whether or not Wittgenstein — a philosopher everywhere committed to exploring the limits of language and the problems of ineffability — would have approved of Milton's poetry, which appears to transgress the limits of Wittgensteinian ‘sense’ as it moves into the realms of ineffable ‘nonsense’. Using Wittgenstein's say-show distinction, as outlined in the Tractatus and implicitly alluded to in the discussed quotation, the epilogue finally concludes that Milton only ever pretends to say the unsayable, and that this pretence is what matters in his poetry.Less
This brief epilogue offers a quotation from Wittgenstein's letters about poetry as a concluding remark for the book as a whole, and speculates whether or not Wittgenstein — a philosopher everywhere committed to exploring the limits of language and the problems of ineffability — would have approved of Milton's poetry, which appears to transgress the limits of Wittgensteinian ‘sense’ as it moves into the realms of ineffable ‘nonsense’. Using Wittgenstein's say-show distinction, as outlined in the Tractatus and implicitly alluded to in the discussed quotation, the epilogue finally concludes that Milton only ever pretends to say the unsayable, and that this pretence is what matters in his poetry.
Howard Wettstein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199841363
- eISBN:
- 9780199950003
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199841363.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General, Philosophy of Religion
This book explores the foundations of religious commitment in the domains of metaphysics/epistemology and the ethical. Throughout, the book takes a literary (rather than philosophical) approach to ...
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This book explores the foundations of religious commitment in the domains of metaphysics/epistemology and the ethical. Throughout, the book takes a literary (rather than philosophical) approach to theology that nevertheless makes room for philosophical exploration of religion. The book rejects the usual picture of religious life sitting atop a metaphysical foundation, in need of epistemological justification.Less
This book explores the foundations of religious commitment in the domains of metaphysics/epistemology and the ethical. Throughout, the book takes a literary (rather than philosophical) approach to theology that nevertheless makes room for philosophical exploration of religion. The book rejects the usual picture of religious life sitting atop a metaphysical foundation, in need of epistemological justification.
David Pears
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198244868
- eISBN:
- 9780191598210
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019824486X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This is the second of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the Philosophical Investigations and other writings from 1929 onwards. Though ...
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This is the second of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the Philosophical Investigations and other writings from 1929 onwards. Though more selective in its coverage than the first volume (it deals mainly with Wittgenstein's philosophy of psychology and the ego, the possibility of a private language and rule‐following), the book reveals with great clarity the style, method, and content of Wittgenstein's later thought. While this volume is independently comprehensible, Pears remains largely within the structural framework of the first volume and uncovers thereby the general overall configuration and internal organization of Wittgenstein's thought.Less
This is the second of David Pears's acclaimed two‐volume work on the development of Wittgenstein's philosophy, covering the Philosophical Investigations and other writings from 1929 onwards. Though more selective in its coverage than the first volume (it deals mainly with Wittgenstein's philosophy of psychology and the ego, the possibility of a private language and rule‐following), the book reveals with great clarity the style, method, and content of Wittgenstein's later thought. While this volume is independently comprehensible, Pears remains largely within the structural framework of the first volume and uncovers thereby the general overall configuration and internal organization of Wittgenstein's thought.
