Customer Reviews

Practically Profound: Putting Philosophy to Work in Everyday Life

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was tough for casual reading without the support of a class or instructor (I used it to accompany Dr Halls "Tools of Thinking" teaching company class).
The major sections include "belief", "knowledge", "human nature" and "human conduct". In "beliefs", he provides some basis for evaluating our beliefs, "truth theories" and evidence with the underlying principle that reliable and true beliefs are preferred. The chapters on evidence were well outlined, discussion experience, reason, authority, intuition, and faith. In the knowledge chapters it was hard to follow his "cognitive neighborhood". Hall concludes that "Paradigms" shifts are not always revolutionary, and readers of Thomas Kuhn' The structure of Scientific Revolution" would be left with a different perspective. The section on human nature seems to take a hopeful balance between determinism and free will, and finds no satisfaction in imago dei (man in Gods image). The chapters on moral conduct conclude with a very utilitarian view "maximize happiness over grief", but tempered with fair play (Rowles) with respect for the individual. Perhaps this section was most fascinating, because it took me beyond what I had presupposed about utilitarianism.

This is a difficult book, and not as practical as I had hoped, but as Professor Hall says "Those dogged enough to read this book should have acquired some skill at spotting ambiguity ... and a taste for arguments and reasons over fervor and rhetoric". In this election year, that is a good practical skill to have.