The Elusiveness of the Ordinary: Studies in the Possibility of Philosophy [Hardcover]

Professor Stanley Rosen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002

The concept of the ordinary, along with such cognates as everyday life, ordinary language and ordinary experience, has come into special prominence in late-modern philosophy. Thinkers have employed two opposing yet related responses to the notion of the ordinary: scientific and phenomenological approaches on the one hand, and on the other, more informal or even anti-scientific procedures. Philosopher Stanley Rosen here presents a comprehensive study of the main approaches to theoretical mastery of ordinary experience. He evaluates the responses of a wide range of modern and contemporary thinkers and grapples with the peculiar problem of the ordinary - how to define it in its own terms without transforming it into a technical - and so, extraordinary - artefact. Rosen's approach is both historical and philosophical. He offers Montesquieu and Husserl as examples of the scientific approach to ordinary experience; contrasts Kant and Heidegger with Aristotle to illustrate the transcendental approach and its main alternatives; discusses attempts by Wittgenstein and Strauss to return to the pre-theoretical domain; and analyzes the differences among such thinkers as Moore, Austin, Grice and Russell with respect to the analytical response to ordinary language. Rosen concludes with a theoretical exploration of the central problem of how to capture the elusive ordinary intact.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book will be read with profit by those who, like Rosen, have mastered a wide philosophical literature. -- (Choice)

From the Back Cover

"If adjectives like ‘original’ and ‘unique’ had comparative and superlative forms, it would be possible to say that this book is very original and most unique, as well as insightful and stimulating. It is also accessible, free of jargon, and rhetorically full-blooded without ever being strident." – Robert B. Pippin, University of Chicago

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300091974
• ISBN-13: 978-0300091977
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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