Distinguished scholar and philosopher Tom Rockmore examines one of the great lacunae of contemporary philosophical discussion--idealism. Addressing the widespread confusion about the meaning and use of the term, he surveys and classifies some of its major forms, giving particular attention to Kant. He argues that Kant provides the all-important link between three main types of idealism: those associated with Plato, the new way of ideas, and German idealism. The author also makes a case for the contemporary relevance of at least one strand in the tangled idealist web, a strand most clearly...

Martin Heidegger's impact on contemporary thought is important and controversial. However in France, the influence of this German philosopher is such that contemporary French thought cannot be properly understood without reference to Heidegger and his extraordinary influence.
Tom Rockmore examines the reception of Heidegger's thought in France. He argues that in the period after the Second World War, due to the peculiar nature of the humanist French Philosophical tradition, Heidegger became the master thinker of French philosophy. Perhaps most importantly, he contends that this reception...

Martin Heidegger's impact on contemporary thought is important and controversial. However in France, the influence of this German philosopher is such that contemporary French thought cannot be properly understood without reference to Heidegger and his extraordinary influence.
Tom Rockmore examines the reception of Heidegger's thought in France. He argues that in the period after the Second World War, due to the peculiar nature of the humanist French Philosophical tradition, Heidegger became the master thinker of French philosophy. Perhaps most importantly, he contends that this reception...

Marx After Marxism encourages readers to understand Karl Marx in new ways, unencumbered by political Marxist interpretations that have long dominated the discussions of both Marxists and non-Marxists. This volume gives a broad and accessible account of Marx's philosophy and emphasizes his relationship to Hegel.

Marx After Marxism encourages readers to understand Karl Marx in new ways, unencumbered by political Marxist interpretations that have long dominated the discussions of both Marxists and non-Marxists. This volume gives a broad and accessible account of Marx's philosophy and emphasizes his relationship to Hegel.

In ancient times, the main approaches to metaphysical realism were intuitive. In modern times, foundationalism has replaced intuition as the main strategy to make out metaphysical realist claims to know. In On Foundationalism, Rockmore argues that foundationalism fails in all its known variants. Furthermore, Rockmore argues that Kant plays a crucial role in this regard. Kant's complex position is both foundationalist and anti-foundationalist, committed to metaphysical realism, and also, through its commitment to empirical realism, opposed to metaphysical realism. Before Kant, it made eminent...

In his book On Foundationalism, Tom Rockmore reviewed the efforts to develop a cogent form of foundational realism and concluded that the doctrine is no longer viable and should be abandoned. In On Constructivist Epistemology, Rockmore expounds upon the idea of "constructivism" as introduced at the end of On Foundationalism. On Constructivist Epistemology belongs to an ongoing effort to call attention to the resources of a modern epistemological approach, which is focused in Kant and which is followed up virtually throughout the later debate. Rockmore traces the idea of constructivism and...

Presents a collection of essays, by both American and European philosophers, on issues raised by Heidegger's involvement with the Nazis. This book considers such matters as the relationship between Heidegger's philosophical theories and his public statements and activities, and his ideas on social and political life compared to other philosophers.

In Kant's Wake evaluates the four main trends in philosophy in the twentieth century -- Marxism, Anglo-American analytic, American pragmatism, and continental philosophy -- and argues that all four evolved in reaction to Kant's fascinating and demanding philosophy.

• Gives a sense of the main thinkers and problems, and the nature of their debates;
  
• Provides an intriguing assessment of the accomplishments of twentieth-century philosophy.

Contemporary philosophy is by its nature pluralistic, to a perhaps greater extent than at any moment of the preceding tradition, in that there are multiple forms of thought competing for a position on the center of the philosophic stage. The reasons for this conceptual proliferation are numerous. But certainly one factor is the increasing development of contemporary means of publication and communication, which in turn make possible the rapid dissemination of ideas as well as an informed reaction to them. And this in turn has increased the possibility for serious philosophic exchange by...