Abstract

Beginning with the challenging remark that "analytical philosophy deserves a better rationale than it has so far been given", this book proceeds to do just that. This is not to say, of course, that here we have a perfect rationale that could not in any way be questioned, but it is to say that we have a refreshing and closely-reasoned justification of analytical philosophy that will turn many of its previous criticisms into straw-man attacks, and force its critics to come to terms with Cohen's account. Indeed, as one would expect from Cohen's previous work, he does "analysis" with intelligence, originality, rare ratiocinative energy and intensity, and considerable interdisciplinary relevance. By the latter I mean that the book is not merely a piece of metaphilosophy, but also a noteworthy contribution to the theory of reasoning, the theory of rationality, the philosophy of psychology, and the philosophy of computer science. Cohen makes a plea for what he calls a "semantic descent," in addition to semantic ascent à la Quine, a descent which makes it imperative to do more than just armchair metaphilosophizing and to get involved in substantive philosophical issues.