A System of Pragmatic Idealism, Volume III (ebook)

Argumento de A System of Pragmatic Idealism, Volume III (ebook)

This is the third and final volume of A System of Pragmatic Idealism, a series that will synthesize the life's work of the philosopher Nicholas Rescher. Rescher's numerous books and articles, which address almost every major philosophical topic, reflect a unified approach: the combination of pragmatism and idealism characteristic of his thinking throughout his career. The three related but independently readable books of the series present Rescher's system as a whole. In combining leading ideas of European continental idealism and American pragmatism in a new way, Rescher has created an integrated philosophical position in which the central concepts of these two traditions become a coherent totality.

The initial volume in the series was dedicated to epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of nature, while the second dealt with issues of value theory, ethics, and practical philosophy. In Volume III Rescher examines the nature of philosophical inquiry itself, seeking to affirm the classical conception of philosophy as a significant problem-solving enterprise that draws on the whole range of human experience to attempt to resolve the "big questions."

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.0List of Displays ix
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
PART I: THE PROJECT OF PHILOSOPHIZING
One The Mission of Philosophy 3
Two The Holistic Nature of Philosophy 17
Three Philosophical Methodology 36
PART II: EXPERIENCE AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
Four Conceptual Schemes and Philosophical Pluralism 61
Five Can Different Thinkers Debate the Same Issues? 79
Six Against Exotic Hypotheses: The Need for Consulting Experience 89
Seven Philosophical Standardism 104
Eight Experiential Perspectivism in Philosophy 120
Nine The History of Philosophical Taxonomy as Evidence for Empiricism 135
PART III: AGAINST PHILOSOPHICAL RELATIVISM
Ten Dispensing with Consensus: Pluralism in Philosophy 155
Eleven Philosophy in Process 168
Twelve On Classifying Metaphysical Positions: A Case Study in Pluralism 182
Thirteen Reactions to Pluralism 195
Fourteen Rejecting Philosophical Relativism 224
Appendix Pragmatic Idealism: A Schematic Sketch of the Overall Position 251
Bibliography 257
Name Index 263
Subject Index 267