Logic and Other Nonsense - Hardcover

Bencivenga, Ermanno

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691074275 ISBN 13: 9780691074276

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1993

Synopsis

Logic is often seen as the bedrock of intellectual life. It aims to be straight-forward, true, clear. But in this provocative book of postmodern philosophy, Ermanno Bencivenga presents an extended reflection on the subversive nature of logic--logic that is not stable and certain, but deceptive and tortuous. The author uses Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of the eleventh century, as his case study to show how human reason can be devious. In Anselm's famous texts, his beliefs are not at stake, he is sure of them--he only seeks to under-stand his faith, not to prove it. But by looking at Anselm's writings as a whole, Bencivenga argues that they undermine Anselm's own interpretation. Not only can reason be more effective than force in fighting the unorthodox, but it can also be a subtle way of undermining orthodoxy.

Bencivenga demonstrates how reason plays different roles at the different levels of Anselm's project. For its authoritarian subject, reason imposes a limit on its rebellious character. For its subversive subject, reason opens up an infinite arena for experimentation whose end will never be reached. Ultimately, Logic and Other Nonsense asks hard questions about the nature of philosophy in Anselm's world, as well as our own.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"A subtle account not only of the paradoxes of reason in Anselm but the intrinsic paradoxes of reason itself . . . . Much of this is captured in Bencivenga's brilliant discussion of 'the self' that does the reasoning, in his deployment of John Le Carre's novel A Perfect Spy."--Bernd Magnus, University of California, Riverside

About the Author:

Ermanno Bencivenga is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0691074275
• ISBN 13: 9780691074276
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 148