The FOUR DIMENSIONS OF PHILOSOPHY [Hardcover]

Mortimer J. Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 1993

This book is about philosophy's relationship to and difference from other disciplines, such as history, maths, physics, and even poetry. The author demonstrates how philosophy - like history, but unlike physics - is reflexive. That is, one may write a history of history as well as a history of physics, but not a physics of physics.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adler's central thesis, in this concise, lucid survey, is that philosophy not only ranks on a par with science as a means to knowledge, but also claims superiority over science in certain areas, for example, in telling us what ends we ought to pursue. The prolific author of Six Great Ideas equips the armchair thinker with a road map to Western philosophy's peaks, abysses and abiding questions as he underscores the pitfalls to be avoided, and fruits to be won, in pursuing four distinct philosophical realms--metaphysical, moral, objective (i.e., understanding of ideas) and categorical (understanding of subjects). Adler's approach ranges widely, moving from "disorders" of medieval thought to the modern "political illnesses" of nationalism, tribalism and xenophobia. This invigorating introduction to how philosophy works emphasizes the importance of philosophical introspection in the lives of ordinary men and women.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Adler's 53rd book is an introduction to such questions as "What is philosophy?" "What are its relations to other forms of thought?" and "What are the structures through which philosophical knowledge is derived and validated?" No new ground is covered, but Adler writes in a competent, nontechnical style that will be appreciated by the general reader, who is the most likely candidate for this book. Later sections of the text lean heavily on the topical outlines found in the multivolume Great Books of the Western World , published by Encyclopaedia Britannica. Readers unfamiliar with this collection, or with the supplementary materials accompanying it, may find Adler's text more accessible after examining the Great Books. For an alternative, readers should examine Thomas Nagel's What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy ( LJ 10/1/87).
- Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1st edition (June 21, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 002500574X
• ISBN-13: 978-0025005747
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 - June 28, 2001) was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The philosophy of philosophy, December 20, 2000

By 

Kenghis Khan (nprvl,il,usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The FOUR DIMENSIONS OF PHILOSOPHY, METAPHYSICAL, MORAL OBJECTIVE, CATEGORICAL (Board book)

There have traditionally been two approaches to works that introduce this amorphorous "philosophy" thing to lay readers. The first is the "topical kind," providing explanations of the various questions and methods of philosophy and the second is the "historical kind" that introduces the main western philosophers and their ideas. Mr. Adler's book, while leaning to the former, is a clever admixture of the two systems. He provides a clear, though at times, as he admits, limited, critique of post-Rennaissance philosophy (indeed, he expounds on this critique elsewhere). However, what is the most valuable element of this work is the discourse on the nature of the philosophical pursuits which Mr. Adler provides. Indeed, in this book are planted the seeds of a "Structure of Philosophical Revolutions." To the ever-so-unanswerable question of what the point of philosophy itself is, Mr. Adler presents a passionate defense of his discipline in light of its criticisms from the rest of the world. Albeit Mr. Adler's view on the importance of Aristotle and the blatant errors of modern philosophers are anything but a settled matter amongst any students of philosophy, for anybody curious to get a fresh, no-nonsense and, best of all, readable insight into the nature of philosophical inquiry itself it is a work I highly recommend. To all other less-lofty readers I recommend it highly as well, though with four stars, as the reviewer disagrees with some of Mr. Adler's conclusions on the importance and correctness of Aristotle.