The failures of philosophy : a historical essay
Stephen Gaukroger
Bok · Engelsk · 2020 · History.
| Omfang | xi, 300 sider
|
|---|---|
| Opplysninger | Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Part I. The Rise and Fall of Philosophy in Antiquity -- Chapter 1. The Emergence of Philosophy -- Coming to Terms with the World -- A Presocratic Genealogy -- The Transition to Philosophy -- Outwitting Opponents vs Intellectual Morality -- The Metaphysics of Morals -- Moral Complexity -- Chapter 2. Metaphysics as a Form of Understanding -- Explanation by Essential Properties -- Logic as a Route to Understanding -- Epistemology and Morality -- Chapter 3. Philosophy's Loss of Autonomy -- The Good Life -- The Undisturbed Life -- The Vagaries of Platonism -- The Christian Assimilation of Philosophy -- Part II. Philosophy Re-Purposed as the Ultimate Arbiter -- Chapter 4. The Creation of an Autonomous Role for Philosophy -- Philosophy as a Tool of Theology -- The Revival of Aristotle -- The Role of Metaphysics -- Losing Control: Renaissance Naturalism -- Regaining Control: The Abandonment of Aristotle -- The Persona of the New Natural Philosopher -- Chapter 5. From Natural Philosophy to Epistemology -- Reconfiguring Knowledge -- Optics and Representationalism -- Knowledge of the World -- Does Natural Philosophy Replace Sense Perception? -- Chapter 6. Reason versus Sensibility -- Contact with the World -- Moral Diversity and Moral Complexity -- Beyond Philosophy? -- Part III. The Decline of Philosophy and Its Re-Purposing as Metascience -- Chapter 7. The Retreat from Philosophy -- The Perils of Metaphysics -- Medicine of the Mind -- Philosophy and the Shaping of Character -- The Collapse of the Standing of Philosophy -- Chapter 8. The Search for a Theory of Everything -- Philosophy as a Theory of Everything -- All or Nothing -- Science as a Theory of Everything -- The Quantification of Morality -- Chapter 9. Science Assimilates Philosophy -- Philosophy as a Metatheory of Science -- The Logical Structure of the World -- Rethinking the Nature of Philosophy -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index. - "Taking the long view of the history of philosophy, The Failures of Philosophy shows how philosophy has in fact collapsed several times, been completely abandoned, sometimes for centuries, and been replaced by something quite different from philosophy. The book focuses on what are historically the most significant failures of philosophy: attempts to provide an account of 'the good life' and how to live; to establish philosophy as a discipline that can stand in judgement over and assess other forms of thought; attempts to establish philosophy as a theory of everything; and attempts to construe it as a discipline that parallels or rationalizes the empirical and mathematical sciences, building up technical credentials that mimic those of science. The central argument of the book is that examination of these failures tells us much more about the nature of philosophical enquiry, and about the ultimate point of the exercise, than its successes possibly could. Examination of its failures shows us the significant differences in the way in which philosophers have conceived of the point at different times, and why they have been obliged to shift focus. It tells us why philosophy has been thought to bring distinctive skills to questions, and whether these are actually fruitful skills. And, above all, it allows us to open up the question whether philosophy has anything to offer over and above other ways of engaging cognate questions"--
|
| Emner | |
| Sjanger | |
| Dewey | |
| ISBN | 9780691207506
|