Plato Etc.: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution [Paperback]

Roy Bhaskar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0860916499 | ISBN-13: 978-0860916499 | Publication Date: December 1, 1996

This study sets out to diagnose, explain and resolve the "problems of philosophy". It reviews all the main areas of the subject: the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of science; the philosophy of logic and language; the philosophies of the space, time and causality; the philosophy of the social and life sciences and of dialectic; ethics, politics and aesthetics; and the history and sociology of philosophy. Among the issues discussed are the problems of induction and universals, the question of relativism, Heidegger's "scandal of philosophy" (the search for a proof of the reality of the external world), the nature of moral truth, and the conundrum of free will and determinism. The last two chapters consist of a synoptic account of the development of Western philosophy from the pre-socratics to poststructuralism. The book seeks to revindicate the idea of the philosophical project and to demonstrate that Bhaskar's "dialectical critical realism" has the categorial power to remedy the problem fields of philosophy. It serves both as an introduction to philosophy and as a useful resource for the scholar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Verso (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860916499
• ISBN-13: 978-0860916499
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,275,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't criticize so swiftly, February 3, 2001

By 

Andrew W. Hagen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plato Etc.: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution (Paperback)

Don't criticize so swiftly Roy Bhaskar's "Plato, Etc." Although it is tempting to jump right in to "Plato, Etc: The Problems of Philosophy and their Resolution"--the subtitle is rather enticing, after all--one should be wary of doing so. This book builds upon the foundation laid by Bhaskar's previous book, "Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom." That book, in turn builds upon his previous major works, in reverse chronological order by date of first publication: "Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom," "Reclaiming Reality," "Scientific Realism and Human Emancipation," "The Possibility of Naturalism," and "A Realist Theory of Science." I list all these only to persuade that "Plato Etc" is not an introductory work for anyone. Before delving into it one should have a firm grasp of Bhaskar's "Dialectic." To have a grasp on "Dialectic" one should have a grasp on the works previous to it.

As for the value of "Plato Etc," I think it is just too early to tell. In his early works, Bhaskar introduces with great success critical realism as a philosophy of science which could benefit science and thus humanity. In building and extending upon critical realism in "Dialectic," Bhaskar delivered what will probably be considered his masterwork. Arriving a short time thereafter, "Plato Etc" seems to be a collection of notes that more thoroughly applies "Dialectic" to western philosophy. It creates new words for new concepts. It thinks big. In no way is "Plato Etc" "his most accessible book to date," as it says on the back cover. Nevertheless, "Plato Etc" is a lively and demanding work that will sustain the interest of even the most inveterate of critical minds. Should Bhaskar have made his case, he will have debunked many of our philosophical assumptions. I'm rating the book 5 stars to indicate my belief in the potential of its contribution.

If you are interested in Bhaskar or critical realism, I suggest a start with "A Realist Theory of Science." Alternatively, Andrew Collier has a solid introduction to critical realism.

Addendum: "critical realism" has been used by other thinkers and philosophers. Apparently, Bhaskar initiated his "critical realism" without building upon pre-existing bodies of thought which bore the same name.

18 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars oh no, July 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Plato, Etc.: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution (Hardcover)

It is temptingly easy to secure the respect of others simply by confusing them

Let the author speak for himself: " Indeed dialectical critical realism may be seen under the aspect of Foucauldian strategic reversal - of the unholy trinity of Parmenidean/ Platonic/ Aristotelian provenance;of the Cartesian-Lockean-Humean-Kantian paradigm, of foundationalisms (in practice, fideistic foundationalisms) and irrationalisms (in practice, capricious exercises of the will-to-power or some other ideologically and/or psychosomatically buried source) new and old alike; of the primordial failing of Western philosophy, ontological monovalence, and its close ally, the epistemic fallacy with its ontic dual; of the analytic problematic laid down by Plato, which Hegel served only to replicate in his actualist monovalent analytic reinstatement in transfigurative reconciling dialectical connection, while in his hubristic claims for absolute idealism he inaugurated the Comtean, Kierkegaardian and Nietzschean eclipses of reason, replicating the fundaments positivism through its transmutation route to the superidealism of a Baudrillard".

Ah the brilliance! :)))

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Continental Philosophy never solved or "resolved" anything., April 8, 2008

By 

Daniel Pi (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plato Etc.: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution (Paperback)

One ought to be highly skeptical about "systems" that purport to solve or "resolve" wide swaths of philosophical territory, which have remained trenchant for thousands of years. It seems endemic to philosophers of 20th (and 21st) century continental Europe to attempt these long, rambling, somewhat mystical explanations, which rarely address actual philosophical problems, never "explain" anything, but instead bombard the reader with a large number of esoteric references (usually to other continental philosophers -- which when investigated, more often than not turn out to be irrelevant to the supposed point of the discussion). And in the frequent case when these "philosophers" run into self contradiction or plain old incoherence, they simply invent a new term for the supposed phenomenon, which explains why the apparent incoherence is actually perfectly all right -- although they insist that this mysterious newly invented term is not easily expressible or outright "beyond description".

These people are certainly not philosophers, and in my opinion, it is dubious to even refer to them as "people". They are charlatans and phonies, and there isn't a respectable philosophy department in any university outside of continental Europe that takes any of these continental philosophers to be more than witch doctors.