Customer Reviews (1)

This would have made old Lukacs happy
Gyorgy Markus was a member of the so-called Budapest Circle in socialist Hungary of the 60s. This grouping of brilliant students was gathered around the Marxist philosopher Gyorgy Lukacs. While Markus' other comrades in theBudapest Circle such as Agnes Heller and Ferenc Feher have drifted far awayfrom Marxism and have become vituperative critics of socialism, this bookshows that only Markus has continued Lukacs' great tradition of laboringtowards the renewal of Marxism and socialism. Markus devotes the first partof the book to a briliant and comprehensive critique of the so-called"paradigm of language" as it has been represented byWittgenstein, Levi-Strauss, Gadamer and Habermas. He points out here thatall these philosophies seem to fall back into some kind of utter fatalismunder the inexorable weight of linguistic reality. Marx on the other handwith his "paradigm of production" is able to lend a more balancedviewpoint on the tension between the "human condition" and the"human striving" for a better society (as Markus demonstrates inthe second part of his book). Markus seems to continue, in a positiveMarxist direction, the earlier model introduced by Heller regarding the"concept of needs" in Marx. The third and last part of the bookis rather difficult going because too condensed, but it is apparently anexposition of Markus' own understanding, practice and reconstruction ofhistorical materialism. ... Read more

Book Description
According to the natural law account of practical rationality, the basic reasons for actions are basic goods that are grounded in the nature of human beings. Practical rationality aims to identify and characterize reasons for action and to explain how choice between actions worth performing can be appropriately governed by rational standards. Natural Law and Practical Rationality is a defense of a contemporary natural law theory of practical rationality, demonstrating its inherent plausibility and engaging systematically with rival egoist, consequentialist, Kantian and virtue accounts. ... Read more

Book Description

Modern philosophy has been vexed by the question "Why should I be moral?" and by doubts about the rational authority of moral virtue. In Reasons without Rationalism, Kieran Setiya shows that these doubts rest on a mistake. The "should" of practical reason cannot be understood apart from the virtues of character, including such moral virtues as justice and benevolence, and the considerations to which the virtues make one sensitive thereby count as reasons to act.

Proposing a new framework for debates about practical reason, Setiya argues that the only alternative to this "virtue theory" is a form of ethical rationalism in which reasons derive from the nature of intentional action. Despite its recent popularity, however, ethical rationalism is false. It wrongly assumes that we act "under the guise of the good," or it relies on dubious views about intention and motivation. It follows from the failure of rationalism that the virtue theory is true: we cannot be fully good without the perfection of practical reason, or have that perfection without being good.

Addressing such topics as the psychology of virtue and the explanation of action, Reasons without Rationalism is essential reading for philosophers interested in ethics, rationality, or the philosophy of mind.

Book Description
The eleventh edition of this renowned, topically organized anthology provides a superb balance of historical selections and recent material. The text covers reason and religious belief, human knowledge, mind and its place in nature, determinism, free will and responsibility, and morality and its critics in five parts with careful attention to opposing points of view. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A reasonable book for an upper division specialty course
A straight anthology without sufficient background material to help students make sense of the essays. I would not advise it for an Introduction to Philosophy course. Essays in the books focus on issues of reason, the limits of knowledge, and ethics based upon human reason. The selection of essays show a bias toward American positivism and contrary philosophical views (of which there are many) are not represented. The amount of philosophy this book ignores on the book's chosen topics is enormous. This is also a reason not to use this text for an Introductory class. If this was the only text used in an introductory course, students would come away with a very stilted and erroneous view of philosophy. It would be good for an upper division course focused on American positivism where students already have sufficient background in philosophy to understand these specialized essays and understand the selective nature of the text's selections.

Philosophy 103
I had to buy this book for a general education requirement this year.However, the class turned out to be my favorite (the teacher certainly helped) and I'm keeping the book after the semester is over.Reason and Responsibility contains essays from the greatest philosophers (and some not so great) in order to give the beginner a comprehensive overview of philosophy.

At times, the essays were edited so that parts of the original selection were omitted.I had difficulty writing papers which criticized certain arguments become some claims can only be made from the entire text.However, if you are just reading this for fun as an introduction to philosophy, I highly recommend it.

Simply great!!!
I have never taken a course in philosophy. But, I think this is not just a text book for Philosophy 101. It is a great collection of essays, on a variety of topics, written by some of the greatet thinkers the world has produced. The editorial introduction for each topic beautifully lays down the ground work. This is followed by writings from eminent scholars representing various positions that have been taken on the issue. It is hard to find so much material in one volume. A must-have book for anyone with even a precursory interest in some of the most fundamental questions posed by life.

fast shipping
this is an old edition. but practically there is no difference.
i saved a lot on this item. shipping is fast too

Great Introductory Book
I highly recommend Feinberg's 'Reason and Responsibility' to beginning philosophers. Feinberg presents various philosophical topics in an organized manner and selects text that is easy to understand for readers new to philosophy. Readers are weaned into the language of philosophy by first being presented with the jargon in the beginning of each section. It's a great book that covers a variety of topics, from arguments about God's existence to ethics to abortion. ... Read more

Book Description
Every philosopher of science, and every student of the philosophy of science, has heard of Paul Feyerabend: the iconoclast who supposedly asserted that science is not rational, nor objective, but is characterised by anarchism, relativism, subjectivism and power. In this book it is argued that this picture of Feyerabend is false. Though Feyerabend was an iconoclast, his destructive philosophy was also creative. Feyerabend was deeply critical of a particular theory of scientific rationality, herein labelled 'Rationalism' - characterised as the algorithmic application of universal, necessary, atemporal rules - but he did not completely reject the idea of scientific rationality. It is argued that Feyerabend implicitly supported an alternative theory of rationality, herein labelled tightrope-walking rationality, characterised as the context-sensitive balancing of inherently irreconcilable values.
The first half of the book deals with the entrenched misunderstandings of Feyerabend's philosophy that have arisen through a lack of appreciation of the target of Feyerabend's criticisms. The second half of the book brings together the positive elements to be found in Feyerabend's work, and presents these elements as a coherent alternative conception of scientific rationality.
This book is of interest to all philosophers of science, students of the philosophy of science, and anyone interested in science and the rationality of science. It constitutes the first book-length study of Feyerabend's post-1970 philosophy and will be an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand the views of one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Book Description
Since the 17th century, Western society has had a turbulent relationship with Reason.Descartes set out to reorganize all his opinions in the light of Reason, allowing, as Pascal bitterly reproached him, nothing else.In the course of the centuries that followed, the relationship with Reason became the object of a vigorous, often passionate debate.David Hume declared Reason to be impotent; Immanuel Kant observed that men suffered from 'misology' as the result of their disappointed expectations from Reason; G.W.F. Hegel declared that the main insight of philosophy consisted of the realization that Reason masterminded and guided all history. The debate has not remained restricted to philosophy.Max Weber, the most influential modern sociologist, was obsessed with the distinctive role of Reason in Western society, and the part it played in engendering industrialism.Social anthropologists have been preoccupied both with the universality and the diversity of conceptual thought.Emile Durkheim taught them to ask why all men were rational, whilst Max Weber taught sociologists to ask why some men were more rational than others. This book brings together the philosophical, historical and sociological discussions of rationality and strives to make clear the underlying issues and the continuity of the debate in the various disciplines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Modus tollens
Ernest Gellner's book is a magisterial summary of Western philosophy:
Descartes's individual reason against collective culture.
Hume's sensualism against reason: ideas are residuals of qualia and habit determines the world structure.
Kant's idealism against sensualism: the world can be constructed by pure reason and the subject is the centre of the world. But a problem persists: the antinomy between individual freedom and the laws of physics.
Durkheim's importance of rites for morality.
Hegel and Marx: truth is the historical process.
Schopenhauer: nature is evil, blind insatiate passion and aggression.
Nietzsche's upheaval of Schopenhauer: acceptance of nature, no slave morals.
Darwin and the all importance of biology.
Freud: sexuality and irrationalism, but no philosophical coherence.
Weber: the importance of a certain form of rationalism for capitalism.
Chomsky: language structures are innate.
Popper: no laws, only falsifications.
The excesses of Popper's followers: anything goes (Paul Feyerabend).
Wittgenstein: Gemeinschaft (community) against Gesellschaft (society).

The enemies of reason (tradition, authority, experience, emotions, unsystematic experiments) put its position in our society in danger. Rational research discovered that our habits (also language) are irrational and based on a heap of sensory perceptions. Humans are biological beings.

Nevertheless, reason is needed for the functioning of our society. It should impose a limit on irrationality by a 'modus tollens': all ideas which are in contradiction with the facts should be rejected.

This rather small book is a very profound overview of fundamental philosophical problems.

A must read.

I also highly recommend the works of Bryan Magee. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

convincingly written
i thought that the book is marvellous and it comes out at a time when we desparately need some solid, logical answers. Rationality it seems, has been underplayed in favour of relativism-pragmatism. But this book explains (quite intuitively) of how everything we do as humans is traced back to rationality itself. VERY highly reccommended (especially for those concerned with existential angst). ... Read more

Book Description
Contending that only a normative theory of rationality can be adequate to the complexities of the subject, this book explains and defends the view that rationality consists of the intelligent pursuit of appropriate objectives. Rescher considers the mechanics, rationale, and rewards of reason,
and argues that social scientists who want to present a theory of rationality while avoiding the vexing complexities of normative deliberations must amend their perspective of the rational enterprise. ... Read more

Book Description

Alan Musgrave has consistently defended two positions that he regards as commonsensicalcritical realism and critical rationalism. In defence of critcal realism he argues for the objective existence of the external world as opposed to idealism, as well as arguing for scientific realism against all anti-realist accounts of science. His critical rationalism is drawn from the work of Karl Popper and stands opposed to inductivist and irrationalist methodologies. In defence of these positions, Musgraves writings have covered a wide range of topics in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, history of science, theories of truth, and economic theory. In this volume a group of internationally-renowned authors discuss themes that are relevant in one way or another to Musgraves work. This is not intended as a standard celebratory festschrift but rather as a new examination of topics of current interest in philosophy. The contributory essays are followed by responses from Alan Musgrave himself.

Book Description
A clear, original and systematic introduction to philosophy of science which examines the theories of Popper, Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend before proposing a new, temperate rationalist perspective. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent
If you've ever been at a University, you've been inundated by hordes of smug post-modernists who seem to think that nothing exists except their paychecks and desire for tenure.If you've ever felt that they are out to lunch, that they argue against flagrant straw men, or that trying to talk with them is like arguing with a spastic colon, this book will refresh you.

Newton-Smith walks a reasonble line between the grotesque extremes of logical positivism and deconstructionism.Along the way, he actually gets science right, an attribute of few if any other philosophers of science.I say this as someone who worked as a professional scientist for 13 years.

The book is somewhat repetitive, as it consists of essays that in many cases contain the same or similar arguments.Yet any one of the essays is worth the price of the book.

Besides, you have to love a philosopher of science named "Newton-Smith."

A great second textbook in Philosophy of Science
This is a book to read once you already know a little about the classics of the field, or have perhaps read an introductory survey. Newton-Smith presents a clear and calm defense of scientific realism, based on the failings of the obvious rivals. It is well-written and lively; the target audience won't be scared by the mild spattering of formal logic. ... Read more

Book Description

In his Second Paralogism of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant described what he called the Achilles of all dialectical inferences in the pure doctrine of the soul. This argument, which he took to be powerful yet fatally flawed, purports to establish the simplicity of the human mind, or soul, on the basis of the unity of consciousness. In Kants illustration, the unity had by our perception of a verse cannot be accounted for if the words of the verse are distributed among parts thought to compose the mind. The argument, or at least the unity of consciousness that underpins it, has a history extending from Plato to the present. Moreover, many philosophers have extended the argument, some of them using to argue such views as immortality.