Toward a Philosophical Theory of Everything: Contributions to the Structural-Systematic Philosophy

ISBN-13: 9781623567187 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 208 str.

Alan White

Opis

Moral values are real--we don't just make them up. Beauty is in the world--it's not just in the eye of the beholder. You are free--what you do is not always determined by electrochemical processes in your brain. And the universe we live in is God's creation.These are radical claims. But they are widely rejected in contemporary philosophy because they are almost always considered in relative isolation from one another. This book shows that when they are considered in conjunction, they gain mutual support. And it shows this both clearly and concisely.But its systematic approach to philosophy also reveals that various philosophical positions currently widely accepted and defended can appear plausible and perhaps even compelling only when they are considered in relative isolation--as they, too, almost always are. When the issues on which these positions are taken are considered in conjunction, problems come into view and the alternative positions defended in this book emerge as superior.Toward a Philosophical Theory of Everything is a ground-breaking work that shows the importance of systematic thinking, while also defending positions, on central philosophical issues, that are widely rejected in contemporary philosophy.

Recenzje

To read this book is to feel oneself liberated from some of philosophy's oldest dogmas. Rejecting the view that systematic philosophy has to provide unchangeable truth, White undertakes a "theory of everything" which aspires instead to be the best available. In so doing he connects many dots that have long needed connecting, from the ontology of propositions to the purpose of religion. He does this speedily, yet without haste; clearly, yet without simplification. Whether or not one agrees with all details of his presentation, Toward a Philosophical Theory of Everything clearly points philosophy into a new and different future. John McCumber, Distinguished Professor, Department of Germanic Languages, UCLA, USA

Spis treści

AcknowledgmentsForeword, by Lorenz B. Puntel Chapter 1. Preliminaries 1.1 An initial clarification of this book's subtitle 1.2 An initial clarification of this book's title 1.3 Preliminary remarks on methodology 1.4 A philosophically consequent stylistic peculiarity 1.5 The structure of this bookChapter 2. Theoretical frameworks 2.1 "Theoretical framework 2.2 The SSP as a network 2.3 Seven central theses concerning theoretical frameworks 2.4 A family of theoretical frameworks rejected by the SSRPP 2.5 The SSP's abstract theoretical framework 2.6 Concretizing the SSP's theoretical frameworkChapter 3. Truth 3.1 The task 3.2 Substantialism and deflationism 3.3 The basic error behind all deflationary theories of truth 3.4 The truth term 3.5 It is true that . . . if and only if Chapter 4. Knowledge 4.1 The inadequacy of the definition of knowledge as justified true belief 4.2 The SSP's definition of knowledge 4.3 False knowledge Chapter 5. Theoreticity, practicity, affectivity 5.1 Modes of engagement 5.2 Theoretical, practical, and aesthetic values 5.3 Sentences and operators Chapter 6. Human freedom 6.1 Terminological clarifications 6.2 Adding a theory of freedom to the SSP 6.3 A theory of freedom for the SSP 6.4 Human freedom and systematic philosophy Chapter 7. Beauty 7.1 Callological delight 7.2 Complex callological delight 7.3 Callological delight and beauty 7.4 Callological delight and callological evaluation 7.5 All factings are beautiful 7.6 Degrees of beauty 7.7 Ugliness 7.8 Callological disagreement Chapter 8. Being 8.1 Articulating being 8.2 Theories of being and theories of be-ers 8.3 Central aspects of the SSP's theory of being Works cited Index

O autorze

Alan White is the Mark Hopkins Professor of Philosophy at
Williams College, USA.