Paul Weiss is one of the two or three most original and creative philosophers and metaphysicians in America today. Creativity and Common Sense reveals why. It contains fourteen recent articles on the thought of Paul Weiss by authors who are most familiar with his writings, including an essay by Charles Hartshorne that provides a unique perspective on Weiss by one who has known him for his entire career. Weiss is shown to be one of the very few contemporary philosophers who (...) examines every area of concern to philosophy and does so on the basis of ontological insights regarding the ultimate elements of reality. He begins his philosophical consideration with the evidences offered by the world of common sense and seeks to provide an adequate and comprehensive account of what he finds there. The contributors to this collection present and examine many of Weiss’ strategic insights. They help clarify key elements in his thought and thereby contribute to an appreciation and understanding of his work. They also make evident the importance of Weiss’ insights for resolving vexing questions in such diverse areas as the philosophy of science, philosophical methodology, ethics, aesthetics, the philosophy of the human person, and the philosophy of language. This collection makes a significant contribution to the development of Weissian scholarship and to the growing appreciation of the significance of his thought for the discussions of contemporary philosophy. (shrink)

I highlight a dimension of the debate about the problem of evil and the existence of God that has loomed on the periphery and consider how, if at all, a specific consideration of that dimension can move the debate forward. My contention is that there is specific version of moral argument for the non-existence of God that is implicit in the problem of evil. This argument is a strategic but suppressed premise that strengthens or undermines the persuasiveness of arguments for (...) or against the existence of God. This argument needs to be thematized if the debate between theism and atheism is to move forward. (shrink)

Weiss seeks to clarify the distinctive nature of creativity and created work through an examination of five creative ventures: art, mathematics, a noble character, leadership, and statesmanship. Creativity, strictly interpreted, means "the production of splendors which, when well read, open one up to final conditions as pertinent to whatever there is". Weiss's examination differs from previous efforts in seeking to uncover "what creators presuppose and utilize, how they proceed... [and] the nature of that with which they end" through knowing "what (...) all the ultimate factors are and how they are and could be joined". The ultimate factors are identified as conditions and the Dunamis. Conditions, which are static, structural, and knowable, are the source of fixities. The Dunamis is a "primary pulsating ground.". (shrink)

"What is a Person?" identifies essential conditions of personhood, how one becomes a person, and the normative, communal, individuating, and obligating ontological aspects of personhood. "Good Advice" explores the nature and characteristics of good advice. "Proverbial Wisdom" brings out how "popular philosophy" discloses the way in which people and society actually think about the human condition and how such thinking relates to philosophical wisdom.

Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984. 475 pp. Cloth, $44.50; paper, $24.50--This volume is a continuation of Weiss's multivolumed Philosophical journal. The entries range over a variety of topics that include personal anecdotes about his health, his friends, honors that he has received, his own work, and his contributions to philosophy, as well as specifically philosophical questions. He compares and contrasts his positions with those of other philosophers. He reflects on his notion of experiencing, the value and explanatory (...) power of the world of art for philosophy, the basic disciplines and their relation to metaphysics, and the dual nature of metaphysics as involving a mutually filling wonder and innocence. He refers to many of his other systematic works and their themes in order to clarify, on the basis of continued reflection and new insight, what was said there and to relate them to his current investigations. (shrink)