Renewing Philosophy [Paperback]

Hilary Putnam (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674760948 | ISBN-13: 978-0674760943 | Publication Date: August 11, 1995

Hilary Putnam, one of America's most distinguished philosophers, surveys an astonishingly wide range of issues and proposes a new, clear-cut approach to philosophical questions--a renewal of philosophy. He contests the view that only science offers an appropriate model for philosophical inquiry. His discussion of topics from artificial intelligence to natural selection, and of reductive philosophical views derived from these models, identifies the insuperable problems encountered when philosophy ignores the normative or attempts to reduce it to something else.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

By criticizing some theses of cognitive science and evolutionary theory, noted Harvard philosopher Putnam tries to show that present-day science does not provide an adequate metaphysics. He then examines Williams's metaphysically materialist view of the world and argues that the attempt to eliminate the normative in favor of a scientific account of how things "really are" is misguided. Putnam then dismisses a variety of relativisms and realisms. He concludes by considering Wittgenstein on religious belief and Dewey on democracy and finds that philosophical reflection that sympathetically examines forms of life not our own or that honestly probes our professed commitments can dissolve prejudices and thereby encourage us to consider possibilities we did not hitherto recognize. A clear, stimulating, and compact discussion that should be part of every major philosophy library.
- Robert Hoffman, York Coll.,
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

In this bold, energetic, and extensive work, Putnam undertakes a revitalization of philosophy. He wants to put philosophy back in touch with the 'human issues which it has always been philosophy's highest goal to articulate'...This is exciting and engaging stuff, and anyone with an interest in philosophy, at whatever level, will enjoy it and learn from it.
--A. W. Moore (Times Literary Supplement )

Putnam has become a thinker to be reckoned with in the humanities, and Renewing Philosophy should provide the best approach to his thought.
--David Gorman (Philosophy and Literature )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (August 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674760948
• ISBN-13: 978-0674760943
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Heavy book that needs consentration!, May 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Renewing Philosophy (Hardcover)

I only reed chapter 9, since this was what I had to read for my assignment. I found it interesting but very heavy. Maby someone else find the book better? I should add that I am not a native speaker of English.