A Thing of This World: A History of Continental Anti-Realism (Topics in Historical Philosophy) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: objective idealism, ontological pluralism, absolute knowing, Kantian Paradigm, Heideggerian Paradigm, Empirical Directive (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A Thing of This World is an impressive and valuable achievement. . . that could do a lot to help apnalytical and continental philosophers understand each other. Lee Braver shows an amazing overall knowledge of the relevant primary and secondary sources, and his analyses of the philosophers he takes up are admirably clear and free from jargon. His Heideggarian critique of Davidson on language, for example, casts new light on the approaches of both thinkers. ---- Hubert L. Dreyfus, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley

The idea that a philosopher develops his own position out of various adaptations to the framework that was bequeathed to him is not new. In this masterful work, however, Braver provides an ingenious exegetical tool to illustrate this evolution from Kant through Derrida. By showing how they each modify what he identifies as the theses of realism into varying degrees of anti-realism, Braver succeeds admirably in penetrating the obscure vocabulary to demonstrate clearly that continental philosophers and analytic philosophers share a common Kantian origin and hence some common concerns (though not the same answers). This might indeed be the beginning of a very fruitful conversation.

--Review of Metaphysics.





It is the sort of book that everyone working in the continental tradition, and many in the analytic tradition, will want to read... Braver's real strength is his sweeping synoptic vision of continentalism from Kant to Derrida, backed by triple the needed homework to make this vision tangible. The book deserves great success, and Braver ought to become a household name in continental circles... It would be hard to ask for a more thoroughly researched work on the topic, or for one more honest or more technically precise... A landmark. ----Philosophy Today

This is a superb book, and potentially an important book. It is addressed to analytic and continental philosophers alike without sacrificing either of the strengths of those traditions: conceptual rigor and clarity of prose on the one hand, historical depth and careful erudition on the other. . . . It is high time our profession embarks on some serious scholarship in this field, and Lee Braver seems to be the one to lead that effort. ---- John Protevi, editor of A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy

Review

"It is the sort of book that everyone working in the continental tradition, and many in the analytic tradition, will want to read... Braver's real strength is his sweeping synoptic vision of continentalism from Kant to Derrida, backed by triple the needed homework to make this vision tangible.  The book deserves great success, and Braver ought to become a household name in continental circles... It would be hard to ask for a more thoroughly researched work on the topic, or for one more honest or more technically precise... A landmark."--Philosophy Today

"This is a superb book, and potentially an important book. It is addressed to analytic and continental philosophers alike without sacrificing either of the strengths of those traditions: conceptual rigor and clarity of prose on the one hand, historical depth and careful erudition on the other. . . . It is high time our profession embarks on some serious scholarship in this field, and Lee Braver seems to be the one to lead that effort."--John Protevi, editor of A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy

"A Thing of This World is an impressive and valuable achievement. . . that could do a lot to help apnalytical and continental philosophers understand each other. Lee Braver shows an amazing overalla knowledge of the relevant primary and secondary sources, and his analyses of the philosophers he takes up. . . are admirably clear and free from jargon. His Heideggarian critique of Davidson on language, for example, casts new light on the approaches of both thinkers."--Hubert L. Dreyfus, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley

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Product Details Paperback: 516 pages Publisher: Northwestern University Press; 1 edition (July 13, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 0810123800 ISBN-13: 978-0810123809 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #626,577 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
objective idealism, ontological pluralism, absolute knowing, epochal clearing, eted comments, spondence truth, epochal understandings, bracketed comment, sensible manifold, active nihilism, transcendental inquiry, noumenal self, transcendental subjectivity, transcendental constitution, alternative conceptual schemes

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Kantian Paradigm, Heideggerian Paradigm, Empirical Directive, Realism of the Subject, Phenomenological Ontology, The Order of Things, Step Six Physics, The History of Sexuality, Absolute Knowledge, Unconcealment Truth, Impersonal Conceptual Scheme, Copernican Revolution, The Birth of the Clinic, Hegel's Spirit, Realism Matrix, Step Five, Finally Became, The Archaeology of Knowledge, God's Eye, Nelson Goodman, Michel Haar, Merold Westphal, Barry Allen, Realism of the Self, One True Account of the World

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2 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!, July 12, 2009 By  Quentin de Montargis - See all my reviews This review is from: A Thing of This World: A History of Continental Anti-Realism (Topics in Historical Philosophy) (Hardcover) The argument of Braver's book is that one of the threads that connects the major philosophers in the continental tradition is a commitment to anti-realism. This claim is not as obvious as one might think, due to the simple fact that these authors rarely employ the vocabulary associated with realism/anti-realism debates. To remedy this situation, Braver first constructs a set of theses that are associated with realism. The word "theses" in the plural is significant because realism does not only entail the thesis that there is a mind-independent world. For example, he argues that an adherence to a bivalent theory of truth is also a logical consequence of realism - and I find his arguments convincing, especially since he supports them with texts from the analytic tradition. Then Braver launches into his history of anti-realism in the continental tradition, starting with Kant. Kant develops a system of philosophy that opposes some of the major theses associated with realism - but he is not able to challenge all of them, rendering his philosophy inconsistent. According to Braver, the philosophers who follow - Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida - attempt to do a better job than Kant in eradicating all the theses associated with realism (none of them succeed completely, but that is the task of future philosophers, and the anti-realist positions that they develop become more consistent over time). Braver's succeeds in demonstrating that each philosopher is arguing against realism, even if they don't use conventional vocabulary. He quotes their works frequently, and then explains how that quote opposes a certain thesis of realism. For example, this strategy helped me understand what Heidegger means by Being - I've read several secondary works on Heidegger which have given me a functional understanding of the concept, but Braver enabled me to grasp it fully. The genius of recasting these philosophers' works in terms of realism or anti-realism is that the theses associated with realism are relatively simple. The concepts of a mind-independent world or truth as correspondence are intuitive. Therefore, connecting notoriously difficult terms as "spirit," "will to power," "being," and "metaphysics of presence" to realism renders them less mysterious. Another goal of this book is a rapprochement of the analytic and continental traditions. I would argue that this goal is secondary, since the primary goal is to situate diverse continental thinkers within a certain debate - but this has been a debate occurring in analytic circles also. At first, I thought Braver was going to argue that, "Look, once we develop commensurate vocabularies, we'll discover that we've been saying the same things all along!" He gives this impression at certain times, especially when he connects later Heidegger to later Wittgenstein (and the similarities are eerie). However, in the conclusion, he argues that the two traditions fundamentally split because of the way in which they appropriated Kant. I've heard this argument elsewhere, and Braver's version make sense. In the end, he emphasizes both the similarities and the differences between the two traditions, an aspect of the book that I appreciated. Overall, this book earns the highest praise from me. It is not without its flaws. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the continental tradition of philosophy, although I would recommend a prior understanding of these philosophers (especially Kant and Heidegger). You don't necessarily have to be interested in the realism/anti-realism debate beforehand. Suppose you just want to understand the later Heidegger - this book, by casting his vocabulary in terms of realism and anti-realism, will help you figure it out. P.S. I have noticed that frequently philosophers who work to produce a synthesis between the analytical and continental fields often identify major continental philosophers as realists (for example, CG Prado for Foucualt and Christopher Norris for Derrida). I wonder if this results from a desire to make them more palatable for analytic philosophers (which is not to say that the aforementioned authors don't provide convincing reasons for their interpretations, they do). Therefore, Braver's book is unique for this genre. 4 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Big Book of Brilliance, January 22, 2009 By  Jack Goldstein (USA) - See all my reviews I received this book as a gift from a friend. I was prepared to read a dry work that would, frankly, help me fall asleep. Wow! I cannot tell you how wrong I was. The material is fascinating, and I found Mr. Braver's insights mind-altering. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in this subject and who enjoys the written word. I cannot wait to read Mr. Braver's next work.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Northwestern University Press; 1 edition (July 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810123800
• ISBN-13: 978-0810123809
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #626,577 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!, July 12, 2009

By	Quentin de Montargis - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thing of This World: A History of Continental Anti-Realism (Topics in Historical Philosophy) (Hardcover)

The argument of Braver's book is that one of the threads that connects the major philosophers in the continental tradition is a commitment to anti-realism. This claim is not as obvious as one might think, due to the simple fact that these authors rarely employ the vocabulary associated with realism/anti-realism debates.

To remedy this situation, Braver first constructs a set of theses that are associated with realism. The word "theses" in the plural is significant because realism does not only entail the thesis that there is a mind-independent world. For example, he argues that an adherence to a bivalent theory of truth is also a logical consequence of realism - and I find his arguments convincing, especially since he supports them with texts from the analytic tradition.

Then Braver launches into his history of anti-realism in the continental tradition, starting with Kant. Kant develops a system of philosophy that opposes some of the major theses associated with realism - but he is not able to challenge all of them, rendering his philosophy inconsistent. According to Braver, the philosophers who follow - Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida - attempt to do a better job than Kant in eradicating all the theses associated with realism (none of them succeed completely, but that is the task of future philosophers, and the anti-realist positions that they develop become more consistent over time).

Braver's succeeds in demonstrating that each philosopher is arguing against realism, even if they don't use conventional vocabulary. He quotes their works frequently, and then explains how that quote opposes a certain thesis of realism. For example, this strategy helped me understand what Heidegger means by Being - I've read several secondary works on Heidegger which have given me a functional understanding of the concept, but Braver enabled me to grasp it fully.

The genius of recasting these philosophers' works in terms of realism or anti-realism is that the theses associated with realism are relatively simple. The concepts of a mind-independent world or truth as correspondence are intuitive. Therefore, connecting notoriously difficult terms as "spirit," "will to power," "being," and "metaphysics of presence" to realism renders them less mysterious.

Another goal of this book is a rapprochement of the analytic and continental traditions. I would argue that this goal is secondary, since the primary goal is to situate diverse continental thinkers within a certain debate - but this has been a debate occurring in analytic circles also. At first, I thought Braver was going to argue that, "Look, once we develop commensurate vocabularies, we'll discover that we've been saying the same things all along!" He gives this impression at certain times, especially when he connects later Heidegger to later Wittgenstein (and the similarities are eerie).

However, in the conclusion, he argues that the two traditions fundamentally split because of the way in which they appropriated Kant. I've heard this argument elsewhere, and Braver's version make sense. In the end, he emphasizes both the similarities and the differences between the two traditions, an aspect of the book that I appreciated.

Overall, this book earns the highest praise from me. It is not without its flaws. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the continental tradition of philosophy, although I would recommend a prior understanding of these philosophers (especially Kant and Heidegger). You don't necessarily have to be interested in the realism/anti-realism debate beforehand. Suppose you just want to understand the later Heidegger - this book, by casting his vocabulary in terms of realism and anti-realism, will help you figure it out.

P.S. I have noticed that frequently philosophers who work to produce a synthesis between the analytical and continental fields often identify major continental philosophers as realists (for example, CG Prado for Foucualt and Christopher Norris for Derrida). I wonder if this results from a desire to make them more palatable for analytic philosophers (which is not to say that the aforementioned authors don't provide convincing reasons for their interpretations, they do). Therefore, Braver's book is unique for this genre.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Book of Brilliance, January 22, 2009

By	Jack Goldstein (USA) - See all my reviews

I received this book as a gift from a friend. I was prepared to read a dry work that would, frankly, help me fall asleep. Wow! I cannot tell you how wrong I was. The material is fascinating, and I found Mr. Braver's insights mind-altering. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in this subject and who enjoys the written word. I cannot wait to read Mr. Braver's next work.