PHILOSOPHY'S SECOND REVOLUTION by D. S. Clarke ( 9780812693485 )

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Title:

PHILOSOPHY'S SECOND REVOLUTION
EARLY AND RECENT ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY

By:

D. S. Clarke

Format:

Paperback

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ISBN 10:

0812693485

ISBN 13:

9780812693485

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Publisher:

OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO ,U.S.

Pub. date:

28 January, 1999

Pages:

256

Description:

Philosophy's Second Revolution is designed to introduce general readers and students to the methods and issues distinctive to 'analytic philosophy'. At the same time, D.S. Clarke presents a bold, heretical interpretation of the historical development of analytic philosophy. Analytic philosophy entered a new phase in about 1960, characterized by materialistic metaphysics, an attempt to assimilate philosophy to the natural sciences, and an attempt to reinstate normative ethics as a means of guiding conduct. Clark argues that this new phase of analytic philosophy was a diversion. Contemporary materialism rests on the view that our mental language has fact-stating functions, a mistaken perspective which overlooks language's primary transactional role of influencing others through evaluation. Clarke proposes a conception of philosophy that provides an alternative to the reductions of materialism and the search for normative principles. Philosophy's proper role is to describe similarities and differences among differing levels of language, specifically the familiar level of discourse within an ordinary language shared by all and the specialized discourses of social institutions such as science, law, and the arts. By constructing a logical framework in which these comparisons and contrasts can be made, philosophy performs the indispensable role of promoting the integration of disparate elements of our culture.

Synopsis:

Since its inception in ancient Greece, Western philosophy has undergone two revolutionary breaks with its past: the first was initiated by Descartes with his 'method of doubt' that led to the questioning of basic assumptions of classical philosophy; the second arose at the beginning of the twentieth century, and is associated with the movement now known as analytic philosophy.D.S. Clarke explains some of the crucial issues raised by the second philosophical revolution, and especially the differences between the early phase of analytic philosophy, covering roughly the first half of the twentieth century, and the new phase which commenced about 1960.As Philosophy's Second Revolution surveys the direction of modern philosophy, it is able to combine discussion of cutting-edge topics with an introductory survey of analytic philosophy for those with little background in logic or history of philosophy.Professor Clarke traces the historical background of the analytic movement from its origins, through its development by applications of logic to philosophical problems and by 'ordinary language' philosophers. He then concentrates on the post-1960 phase, with its rejection of earlier views dominated by Wittgenstein's methods. The new phase features the development of a materialist metaphysics, the attempt to assimilate philosophy to the natural sciences, and the attempt to reinstate normative ethics as a guide to conduct.Clarke defends the first phase against aspects of the second phase, arguing that contemporary materialism rests on the mistaken view that mental language has fact-stating functions, and that normative ethics imposes on moral reasoning a false intellectualist model.

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Open Court Publishing Co ,U.S.

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