Analysis and Metaphysics: An Introduction to Philosophy - Softcover

Strawson, P. F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198751184 ISBN 13: 9780198751182

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1992

Synopsis

All developed human beings possess a practical mastery of a vast range of concepts, including such basic structural notions as those of identity, truth, existence, material objects, mental states, space, and time; but a practical mastery does not entail theoretical understanding. It is that understanding which philosophy seeks to achieve. In this book, one of the most distinguished of living philosophers, assuming no previous knowledge of the subject on the part of the reader, sets out to explain and illustrate a certain conception of the nature of analytical philosophy. Strawson draws on his many years of teaching at Oxford University, during which he refined and developed what he regards as the most productive route to understanding the fundamental structure of human thinking. Among the distinctive features of his exposition are the displacement of an older, reductive conception of philosophical method (the ideal of "analyzing" complex ideas into simpler elements) in favor of elucidating the interconnections between the complex but irreducible notions which form the basic structure of our thinking; and the demonstration that the three traditionally distinguished departments of metaphysics (ontology), epistemology, and logic are but three aspects of one unified enquiry. Strawson has produced an elegant work that will be invaluable to students and stimulating for professional philosophers and general readers alike.

About this title

About the Author

P. F. Strawson is at St Johns, University, and Magdalen Colleges, Oxford.

Review

"One of the clearest and most accessible discussions of the main tenets of 'analytic' philosophy."--Chris Slupik, University of Wisconsin--Oshkosh

"Excellent introduction to contemporary Anglo-American philosophy."--Manuel Davenport, Texas A & M

"Thorough, concise, easy to read. An excellent thought-provoking primer for an advanced undergraduate course on current problems in metaphysics."--S.N. Fratantaro, Providence College

"I used this book because I wanted students to have something solid and meaty to work on in the way of philosophical argumentation. After they had mastered the nuts and bolts of reasoning, I found the encounter with a mature thinker very satisfying."--Mary M. Mulhern, Drexel University

"The book provides a valuable account of contemporary analytic philosophy and consequently would be useful to upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members who are unfamiliar with the analytic tradition in philosophy."--Choice

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0198751184
• ISBN 13: 9780198751182
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 152