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An introduction to the Southern Critics for those who donot know them. Dr. Cowan has concentrated on the three founders of theschool--Ransom, Tate, and Davidson--because it was in their minds andimagination that the movement took form. ... Read more

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Thanks to their heterogeneity, the nine essays in this volumeoffer a clear testimony of Donald Davidsons authority, andthey undoubtedly show how much his work-even if it hasraised many doubts and criticisms-has been, and still is, highlyinfluential and significant in contemporary analytical philosophyfor a wide range of subjects. The various articles not onlycritically and carefully analye Davidsons theses and arguments(in particular those concerning language and knowledge), butthey also illustrate how such theories and ideas, despite theirunavoidable difficulties, are still alive and potentially fruitful.Davidons work is indeed an important and provocative startingpoint for discussing the future progress of philosophy. ... Read more

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Triumph of revision
Within this book, Mr. Young develops an essay around Donald Davidson's revision of his most famous poem, "Lee in the Mountains."Taking it from its first draft, titled "General Lee Remembers," Young shows how Davidson relied on the opinion of Allen Tate, and how heconstantly looked to the poem as an unfinished work.The work, itself, ismagnificent, but the story behind it is even better. ... Read more

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In "An Interpretation and Assessment of First-Person Authority in the Writings of Philosopher Donald Davidson", first-person authority is the thesis that subjects have a non-evidence-based form of epistemic warrant for self-ascriptions of psychological concepts that does not attach to a third-person evidence-based ascriptions of the same concepts. ... Read more

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J. E. Malpas discusses and develops the ideas of Donald Davidson, influential in contemporary thinking on the nature of understanding and meaning, and of truth and knowledge. He provides an account of Davidson's holistic and hermeneutical conception of linguistic interpretation, and, more generally, of the mind. Outlining its Quinean origins and the elements basic to Davidson's Radical Interpretation, J. E. Malpas' book goes on to elaborate this holism and to examine the indeterminacy of interpretation and the principle of charity. The metaphysical and epistemological consequences of Davidson's approach are considered, particularly in relation to scepticism and relativism, the realist/anti-realist debate, and the problem of truth. Parallels are drawn between the Davidsonian emphasis on the centrality of the notion of truth and Heidegger's notion of truth as aletheia, as the book looks to structuralist, hermeneutical and phenomenological sources to illuminate Davidson's position. ... Read more

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Very exciting, if expensive, philosophical work.
Jeff Malpas provides an original and exciting interpretation of the philosophies of Donald Davidson and Martin Heidegger. This book is both an excellent introduction to the work of these great thinkers as well as a most important original reinterpretation that manages to show just how relevant their thought is to the contemporary philosophical scene. It should not be overlooked by anyone interested in the possible fusing of perspectives of Continental and Analytic philosophy. Unfortunately, as of October 1995, this book is only available in hardback, which I think is a pity considering its deserved readership. ... Read more

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Donald Davidson is among the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. This volume includes some 30 essays which variously criticize, comment on and develop Davidson's philosophy as represented in his collected papers "Essays on Actions and Events", in addition to three further essays by Davidson himself. The essays divide into three sections, each opening with an editorial introduction and corresponding to the three major sections of "Actions and Events". The first section discusses the nature of rational explanation, the relationships between reasons and actions, intentions and actions, will and irrationality, and the concepts of agency, freedom and weakness of the will. This section also contains an essay in which Davidson presents his views on self-deception. The second section considers the nature of events, causal relationships, and the logical form of action and singular causal statements. Finally, the volume looks at the relationship between the mental and the physical, the scientific status of psychological and psychophysical laws, and the relationship between laws and causal and rational explanations. ... Read more

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You can't touch this
Well, it looks like I just bought the last copy of this book available anywhere :-)So why bother reviewing it?

Its true that this book is mostly of historical interest now.It is basically the proceedings of a conference held in 1985 on Donald Davidson's theories of, (surprise, surprise) actions and events.The debates are long over; the arguments are stale, for the most part...

...but for the true connoseur, there's some gems to be found here.One of the last rounds of conversation between Quine and Davidson on the ontology of events is recorded here.Terrence Parsons has a nice paper which is basically a precis of this book "Events in the Semantics of English".

If you are wondering what it takes to transform a philosophy department into one of the top 5 philosophy departments in the world, understanding this book and the social phenomena behind it is a good place to start.LePore and McLaughlin organized the conference, which attracted the coolest people in philosophy to have one of the coolest conversations--we're still having that conversation, 25 years on. ... Read more

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Still many important lessons
At the risk of terrible understatement, it's pretty clear that the Southern Agrarians did not have a huge impact on the political climate of their era (primarily the 1930s). However, while their political success was small, the ripples of their intellectual impact continue to be felt today. And so while parts of this book, one of the most articulate presentations of the agrarian position, are somewhat dated, there's still a lot of value for modern readers.

The book got off to a slow start for me. Davidson's presentation of the theory and history of American regionalism, in a section titled "The Nation We Are," is important, but much of it summarizes, or reacts to, the work of historians and sociologists now even more obscure than the Agrarians themselves (Frederick Jackson Turner being a notable exception). While Davidson makes important points about the endogenous or organic nature of regions, regional characteristics, and regional loyalties -- in distinction to the imposed, artificial, and largely arbitrary nature of political divisions like counties or states -- his focus on the social science of the 1930s is not a terrifically compelling read today.

Once we get past that first section, though, the reading is much, much more rewarding. This is particularly true of the second section, titled "Immovable Bodies and Irresistible Forces," which focuses on defining the characteristics of various American regions and the people who live there. I especially enjoyed "Still Rebels, Still Yankees," which contrasts Brother Jonathan of Yankeetown, Vermont, with Cousin Roderick of Rebelville, Georgia. "The Two Old Wests," an exploration of how frontier, geographic, and cultural influences blended, with very different results, in the Old Southwest (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and later Texas) and Old Northwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and other parts of the modern "Midwest"), was fascinating.And "The Great Plains," a précis of Walter Prescott Webb's important book of the same title with Davidson's own expanded commentary, extends the analysis to the foothills of the Rockies. As a Seattleite, I would have liked to have seen Davidson carry his discussion all the way to the Pacific coast, but I can't complain about what he did do.

Entertaining and valuable as all this is, the most useful section for modern students of politics and regionalism might be the chapter titled "Expedients vs. Principles -- Cross-Purposes in the South." Davidson here makes a number of important, and still timely, points, including illustrating how attacks on the "backward" South are frequently Trojan horses for the imposition of another, usually Northeastern, political or social agenda. The author also argues, contra those who say the Constitution and federalist system are outdated because "the Founders couldn't foresee" the nature of modern society, that indeed, Jefferson and his contemporaries did foresee the coming of large-scale industrialism and the destructive effects it would have on agrarian society.

Reading Davidson today, one can't help but wonder whether things are much worse, or perhaps a little better, than during his day. One the one hand, monopoly industrialism has in some senses given way to the "new economy" driven by high technology. On the other hand, American culture is more monolithic than ever, thanks to mass media and popular culture that are far more pervasive and homogenizing than in the '30s. Are there any discernable differences between Brother Jonathan's and Cousin Roderick's twenty-first century great-grandchildren? It's a question worth investigating, and Davidson's insights are as valuable and provocative today as they were nearly 70 years ago.

A Neglected Classic
This book should be read by anyone interested American political thought, and particularly on the history of localism, state's rights, and American conservatism.

Davidson was one of the original 'Twelve Southerners' of I'll take My Stand fame, who was interested in defending the unique cultural, social, and political values of the American south. He takes a very combative view of regionalism, caught in a struggle with nationalism and national identity. Its really a struggle over flavors; a national culture and politics would wash out all of the unique and colorful elements of local societies, the customs and traditions that have been built up over years, that structure the lives of local citizens. National society would become increasingly homogenized, and democratized. Citizens would become identical, little automatons, and culture would eventually be controlled by the taste of the lowest common denominator. The precious differences between people, between regions, between New England, the West and the South, would no longer exist, and the ties to the past, that make the present tolerable, stable, and peaceful would be lost forever.

Davidson, like the other 'Southerners' was unwilling to confront the biggest problem in the south. Race was one of the inheritances of the past, and one that would not be fixed within the southern tradition, as it was understood in the 1940's and 1950's. Race relations demanded a 'modern' solution, based on the idea that all citizens were Americans and individuals, entitled to their rights and liberties, and that local customs and traditions could not stand in the way of ensuring every citizen civil rights.

But, to disregard Davidson (and disregard other Southern conservatives like Weaver, or Tate and the others of the 12) is to risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As we drift into the 21st Century, it would be nice to have a greated sense of rootedness in a community, and an identification with local cultures and customs. 'Survivor', 'Big Brother', and 'The Weakest Link'- as are other tv shows- are a sure demonstration that our culture is increasingly focusing on the lowest denominator, and have abdicated any responsibility for improving the cultural level and understadning of Americans. The broader the audience, the more one has to appeal to base emotions and feelings. Finally, we are beginning to sense that the national government cannot fix all problems. It is too remote, and to clumsy an instrument for dealing with problems that are varied and diverse in different cities, counties, and states. The states and local governments, closer to the problems, with a better understanding of the regional and local diversity of social and political conditions are a better forum for experimentation and adaptation than the federal government.

We still have something to learn from these conservatives. An understanding of their views towards localism, the importance of local cultures, and the preservation of traditions and customs, can help us as the US adapts to its own changing political and social environment. ... Read more

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For more than 250 years after the first lighthouse was built on Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha‘s Vineyard, no book had ever been written specifically about the beacons along this shoreline. During that period, more than 40 lighthouse guided mariners through these treacherous waters, and they comprised a concentration of beacons greater than any other in the entire world. America’s Landfall was the first book to chronicle these particular lights that became not only a symbol for this region, but also a display of our nation’s progress. Illustrated with more than 75 historic photographs and nautical charts, this guide recounts just how it was that these beacons came to be and why it is that the few which remain are worth preserving. ... Read more

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Uproariously funny and filled with choice narration, The Big Ballad Jamboree is Donald Davidson's only novel.

He set his story- the romance of hillbilly and country singer Danny MacGregor with folk singer and ballad scholar Cissy Timberlake- in the fictional western North Carolina town of Carolina City during the summer of 1949. The late forties, just after WWII and before the rise of national television, are great years for classic country music on live radio. Yet this Appalachian community is struggling to embrace a modern commercial economy without losing its folk heritage.

In this setting Davidson draws lively satirical pictures: civic boosters allied with shameless politicians; a local sheriff, a barber, and a dean cooperating to protect the image of a college; a folklore professor seeking fame by promoting a ballad-singing bootlegger. Seen through the eyes of a country boy with a musical gift descended from mountain people, this novel is a highbrow art about memorable lowbrow characters. It is also a great read.

Those who know Davidson as a poet and scholar may be surprised to learn that he wrote a novel about country music. Here his long romance with southern folk life and mountain balladry captures the evolution of hillbilly singers into Grand Ole Opery stars as he pursues vexing questions about folk authenticity in country music.

Long thought lost, The Big Ballad Jamboree now is published for the first time. The famous teacher of young writers as Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Stuart, and Elizabeth Spencer never saw publication of his own novel. The mystery of its fate resolved at long last with the publication of the complete manuscript, discovered by a granddaughter in family files. ... Read more

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ON DAVIDSON, like other titles in the Wadsworth Philosopher's Series, offers a concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to this philosopher's most important ideas. Presenting the most important insights of well over a hundred seminal philosophers in both the Eastern and Western traditions, the Wadsworth Philosophers Series contains volumes written by scholars noted for their excellence in teaching and for their well-versed comprehension of each featured philosopher's major works and contributions. These titles have proven valuable in a number of ways. Serving as standalone texts when tackling a philosophers' original sources or as helpful resources for focusing philosophy students' engagements with these philosopher's often conceptually daunting works, these titles have also gained extraordinary popularity with a lay readership and quite often serve as "refreshers" for philosophy instructors. ... Read more

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How did Wheeler do it?
By far the best introduction to Davidson's philosophy.It is amazing that Wheeler could pack, in less than 100 pages, both a description and a justification of so much of Davidson's life's work.

One of the things which makes Davidson's work hard to understand is that many of his theses are so bizzare and counterintuative.Here is where Wheeler's book shines--instead of just enumerating bizzare thesis after bizzare thesis, he makes a habit of stating a bizzare thesis and then ALSO stating a very cogent reason why we should believe it.These reasons are so carefully crafted and articulated that it really aids in understanding. ... Read more