John McDowellJohn McDowell's contribution to philosophy has ranged across Greek philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics and ethics. His writings have drawn on the works of, amongst others, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Sellars, and Davidson. His contributions have made him one of the most widely read, discussed and challenging philosophers writing today. This book provides a careful account of the main claims that McDowell advances in a number of different areas of philosophy. The interconnections between the different arguments are highlighted and Tim Thornton shows how these individual projects are unified in a post-Kantian framework that articulates the preconditions of thought and language. Thornton sets out the differing strands of McDowell's work prior to, and leading up to, their combination in the broader philosophical vision revealed in "Mind and World" and provides an interpretative and critical framework that will help shape ongoing debates surrounding McDowell's work. An underlying theme of the book is whether McDowell's therapeutic approach to philosophy, which owes much to the later Wittgenstein, is consistent with the substance of McDowell's discussion of nature that uses the vocabulary of other philosophers including, centrally, Kant. |
Contents
understanding 25 | 25 |
Value judgements | 63 |
Formal theories of meaning and theories of sense | 101 |
Copyright | |
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argument argument from illusion assumption behaviour beliefs causal Chapter claim connection construed contrast criteria Davidson Davidsonian theory depend described discussion disjunctive dualism Dummett epistemic epistemological example experience explain expressed external fact Fregean Fregean sense German Idealism highest common factor ibid idea independent inner Kant Kantian knowledge Kripke language linguistic master thesis McDowell 1998a McDowell argues McDowell suggests McDowell's account merely Mind and World moral judgement moral realism neo-Fregean normative notion object-dependent objects one's Oxford perception perspective phenomenology philosophy philosophy of language philosophy of mind post-Kantian private language argument problem radical interpretation rampant Platonism rational reality realm of law relation role rule-following rules scepticism scheme secondary qualities Section Sellars sense and reference sentence singular thoughts space of reasons speaker structure Tarski theory of descriptions theory of meaning theory of sense things thinking tion true truth theory truth-conditions undermine understanding Wittgenstein words worldly Wright