The Last Word (Hardcover)

by Thomas Nagel (Author) "This discussion will be concerned with an issue that runs through practically every area of inquiry and that has even invaded the general culture-the issue..." (more)
Key Phrases: Harvard University Press, Oxford University Press, Bernard Williams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel argues against what he calls subjectivism, "a general tendency to reduce the objective pretensions of reason." On his enemies list are the architects of postmodernism, social scientists with delusions of grandeur, and philosophers ranging from Hume and Kant to W.V. Quine and Richard Rorty. Regarding reason as based on contingent features of our nurture, culture, or nature, such subjectivists contend that reason is not generally valid, but valid only from our point of view. Challenges to reason in general are bound not to convince: they subvert themselves if based on reason, but are not worth taking seriously otherwise. Challenges to reason in particular domains, such as logic or ethics, are expressed by "ritualistic metacomments declaring one's allegiance to subjectivism" about logic or ethics. But, Nagel argues, the subjectivist claims are unintelligible unless understood as claims of logic or ethics, and therefore can be adjudicated on logical or ethical grounds. The drastically schematic nature of Nagel's refutation of subjectivism is troublesome, inviting the question of whether anyone truly accepts the position that he attacks. It also inspires doubt that his refutation is developed enough to be, as advertised, the panacea for subjectivism. Nevertheless, The Last Word is highly recommended to philosophers and anyone else interested in thinking about reason. Elegantly written and incisively argued, it is sure to provoke discussion--and thus ensure that it will be anything but the last word. --Glenn Branch

Review

"Nagel's book is a ringing defense of the rationalist conception of reason and an uncompromising attack on the subjectivist conception.... Nagel applies his general anti-subjectivist argument in a number of areas, including language, logic, arithmetic and ethics....The case that Nagel presents in these chapters should disturb all those who have been lulled, or bludgeoned, into the flabby relativism that is so rampant in contemporary intellectual culture....Nagel's argument is not only correct, it is also urgent....The Last Word is a book that should be read and pondered in this golden age of subjectivism."--Colin McGinn, The New Republic
"Thomas Nagel stands out among today's best philosophers in retaining closer links with the big puzzles and mysteries that first attract most people to philosophy. He has a livelier sense of their depth and power than is conspicuous elsewhere in the academic study of philosophy, and admirably resists the widespread tendency to deny a thing's existence because it is difficult or perhaps impossible to understand."--The Times Literary Supplement
"...now comes Professor Nagel's fascinating, even brilliant, book..."--Commonweal
"Recommended."--The Key Reporter
"...[Nagel's] book, which is concise, spare, and well-argued, will prolong discussion by setting it on a new path....what he has to say is challenging, impressive, and thought-provoking."--International Philosophical Quarterly


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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (January 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195108345
• ISBN-13: 978-0195108347
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,271,717 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A defense of rationalism against subjectivism and relativism, May 4, 2000

By	John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In this volume, Thomas Nagel mounts his case for rationalism against the onslaught of several varieties of subjectivism and relativism.

The kernel of his case is his more-or-less-Kantian claim that there is a "category of thoughts that we cannot get outside of," which in some way provide a basic structure that we have ultimately no choice but to regard as objective. Once we recognize this category of thoughts, he maintains, "the range of examples turns out to be quite wide."

He proceeds to demonstrate his point in the areas of language, logic, science, and ethics (to each of which he devotes a chapter). His arguments are intended to show, essentially, that meaning, logical necessity, the demand for order in objective reality, and normativity are not reducible to matters of pure subjectivity, and for the most part they are fairly successful.

His closing chapter -- "Evolutionary Naturalism and the Fear of Religion" -- is remarkable for several reasons, not least of which is its stunning candor. Nagel is an atheist who nevertheless recognizes that his somewhat Platonic commitment to reason, and in particular to a Peircian belief in an objective "order of . . . logical relations among propositions," raises the question "what world picture to associate it with." He cannot avoid the "suspicion that the picture will be religious, or quasi-religious," and notes that rationalism "has always had a more religious flavor than empiricism."

And -- here comes the candor -- he attributes at least some anti-rationalism to a "fear of religion" which he confesses himself to share: "I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally, hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that."

He finds, though, that he must acknowledge the distinct possibility that "the capacity of the universe to generate organisms with minds capable of understanding the universe is itself somehow a fundamental feature of the universe." He adds at once that this view need not amount to "anything that should count literally as religious belief" -- though, honestly, it is hard to see why not.

At any rate, whatever the implications for religion, Nagel's arguments in this volume are delivered with his usual clarity and flair and will be of interest to anyone seeking a philosophical defense of reason. As Nagel himself notes not far from the outset of his book, the knowledge that subjectivism is self-refuting may be as "old as the hills," but it seems that it cannot be too often repeated.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Introduction, September 10, 2002

By	Flounder (Substitution Instance) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Word (Philosophical Essays) (Paperback)

This is classic Nagel. He is one of the most important philosophers in America today. And his philosophical prose style clearly demonstrates why that is the case: it is clear, direct, and straightforward. This text (along with Mortal Questions and A View From Nowhere) would be a great Intro. to Philosophy text; it is a superb example of how analytic philosophy should be written. There are actually arguments here. Imagine that.

Yes, the text bashes various forms of relativism and subjectivism (in favor of "objective facts" and "objective values"). But possibly the most important chapter is titled, "Logic." Read this chapter. I won't ruin the sunset ending for you.

I highly recommend this text. As well as: Searle, Mind, Language, Society; and Nozick, Invariances.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good one, April 26, 1999

By A Customer

A Rorty-bashing classic. A must read for pragmatists. Whether Nagel has really given the last word in favor of the realists is another question.