Is Philosophy Dispensable?: And Other Philosophical Essays

by Nicholas Rescher

Overview

During 2005-2006 I continued my longstanding practice of writing occasional studies on philosophical topics, both for formal presentation and for informal discussion with colleagues. While my forays of this kind have usually issued in journal publications, this has not been so in the preset case so that the studies offered here encompass substantially new material. Notwithstanding their thematic variation, they manifest a uniformity of treatment and method in a way that is characteristic of my philosophical modus operandi and inherent is its endeavors to treat classical issues from novel points of view.' Nicholas Rescher

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110320947
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	03/15/2007
Pages:	117
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nicholas Rescher, distinguished university professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, is currently chairman of the Center for Philosophy of Science.

Table of Contents

Preface
Is Philosophy Dispensable? (An Aporetic Analysis)     1
First Principles and Their Place In Philosophy     7
The Hume-Edwards Principle and Its Problems     27
The Limits of Naturalism (Nature and Culture in Perspectival Duality)     37
On Universals, Natural Kinds, and Laws of Nature     43
Aquinas and the Principle of Epistemic Disparity     53
Self-Substantiating Statements     59
Regret     69
The Problem of Evil     81
Rationality, Self-Interest, Altruism, and Obligation     85
What is Pragmatism?     91
The Transformation of American Philosophy     99
Index of Names     115