Understanding Naturalism (Understanding Movements in Modern Thought)

✍ Scribed by Jack Ritchie

• Publisher: Acumen Publishing
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 229
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Many contemporary Anglo-American philosophers describe themselves as naturalists. But what do they mean by that term? Popular naturalist slogans like, "there is no first philosophy" or "philosophy is continuous with the natural sciences" are far from illuminating. "Understanding Naturalism" provides a clear and readable survey of the main strands in recent naturalist thought. The origin and development of naturalist ideas in epistemology, metaphysics and semantics is explained through the works of Quine, Goldman, Kuhn, Chalmers, Papineau, Millikan and others. The most common objections to the naturalist project - that it involves a change of subject and fails to engage with "real" philosophical problems, that it is self-refuting, and that naturalism cannot deal with normative notions like truth, justification and meaning - are all discussed. "Understanding Naturalism" distinguishes two strands of naturalist thinking - the constructive and the deflationary - and explains how this distinction can invigorate naturalism and the future of philosophical research.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
1. First philosophy......Page 19
2. Quine and naturalized epistemology......Page 39
3. Reliabilism......Page 65
4. Naturalized philosophy of science......Page 85
5. Naturalizing metaphysics......Page 121
6. Naturalism without physicalism?......Page 145
7. Meaning and truth......Page 170
Conclusion......Page 206
Questions for discussion and revision......Page 213
Guide to further reading......Page 216
Bibliography......Page 219
Index......Page 226