Truth: A GuideThe author of the highly popular book Think, which Time magazine hailed as "the one book every smart person should read to understand, and even enjoy, the key questions of philosophy," Simon Blackburn is that rara avis--an eminent thinker who is able to explain philosophy to the general reader. Now Blackburn offers a tour de force exploration of what he calls "the most exciting and engaging issue in the whole of philosophy"--the age-old war over truth. The front lines of this war are well defined. On one side are those who believe in plain, unvarnished facts, rock-solid truths that can be found through reason and objectivity--that science leads to truth, for instance. Their opponents mock this idea. They see the dark forces of language, culture, power, gender, class, ideology and desire--all subverting our perceptions of the world, and clouding our judgement with false notions of absolute truth. Beginning with an early skirmish in the war--when Socrates confronted the sophists in ancient Athens--Blackburn offers a penetrating look at the longstanding battle these two groups have waged, examining the philosophical battles fought by Plato, Protagoras, William James, David Hume, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Richard Rorty, and many others, with a particularly fascinating look at Nietzsche. Among the questions Blackburn considers are: is science mere opinion, can historians understand another historical period, and indeed can one culture ever truly understand another. Blackburn concludes that both sides have merit, and that neither has exclusive ownership of truth. What is important is that, whichever side we embrace, we should know where we stand and what is to be said for our opponents. |
From inside the book
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Page vi
... to Rorty Paradise Lost First Impressions Holism Davidson's Mantle Rorty's Talking World 151 58 63 67 70 75 79 85 92 98 104 109 114 124 129 139 140 144 148 6. Keeping our Feet on the Ground 7. Interlude: Law, contents.
... to Rorty Paradise Lost First Impressions Holism Davidson's Mantle Rorty's Talking World 151 58 63 67 70 75 79 85 92 98 104 109 114 124 129 139 140 144 148 6. Keeping our Feet on the Ground 7. Interlude: Law, contents.
Page ix
... talk about in this book have been suspicious of the whole project of epistemology – of saying which intellectual habits deserve respect, and which ones do not. Words like 'relativism' and 'postmodernism' signal a resulting culture in ...
... talk about in this book have been suspicious of the whole project of epistemology – of saying which intellectual habits deserve respect, and which ones do not. Words like 'relativism' and 'postmodernism' signal a resulting culture in ...
Page xviii
... talk his talk, celebrating his cosy relationship with truth, reason and objectivity, but perhaps he is just whistling to keep his spirits up, deliberately but self-deceivingly in denial about the dark forces that create his blindspot ...
... talk his talk, celebrating his cosy relationship with truth, reason and objectivity, but perhaps he is just whistling to keep his spirits up, deliberately but self-deceivingly in denial about the dark forces that create his blindspot ...
Page xix
... talk past each other – as classical philosophers liked to say, you can give something with the right hand but it may be taken by the left. The absolutist trumpets his plain vision; the relativist sees only someone who is unaware of his ...
... talk past each other – as classical philosophers liked to say, you can give something with the right hand but it may be taken by the left. The absolutist trumpets his plain vision; the relativist sees only someone who is unaware of his ...
Page xx
... talk a little more of the reign of reason. We then confront some of the characteristic theses of relativism, and attempts to unseat them. These attempts are not futile, although they turn out to be less impressive than many philosophers ...
... talk a little more of the reign of reason. We then confront some of the characteristic theses of relativism, and attempts to unseat them. These attempts are not futile, although they turn out to be less impressive than many philosophers ...
Contents
1 | |
CHAPTER 2 Man the Measure | 23 |
CHAPTER 3 Ishmaels Problem and the Delights of Keeping Quiet | 45 |
the Arch Debunker | 73 |
CHAPTER 5 The Possibility of Philosophy | 107 |
from Locke to Rorty | 137 |
CHAPTER 7 Realism as Science Realism about Science | 173 |
CHAPTER 8 Historians and Others | 197 |
Notes | 223 |
Index | 235 |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute absolutist accept appear belief Bernard Williams better bull’s-eye Cambridge chapter claim Clifford commitments conception consider Cratylus dark forces David Hume Davidson describe doctrine eliminativism empirically adequate ethics example explain false fiction Francis Bacon Friedrich Nietzsche give historian hold holism human Hume’s idea illusion inconsistent interpretation issue judgement Kant knowledge language logos look Ludwig Wittgenstein mathematics means Meta Story metaphor metaphysical mind moral nature Nietzsche Nietzsche’s norms notion objectivity ourselves Oxford University Press perhaps perspective philosophers Plato problem Protagoras question quietist R. G. Collingwood realism reality reason recoil argument relativism relativist religious Richard Rorty Rorty’s scepticism scientific sense simply Socrates someone stand success suppose talk tell theory things Thomas Nagel thought tion totally empirically true truth turn understanding variation of subjectivities vocabulary W. V. Quine Walter Kaufmann Wittgenstein words wrong