Originally published in 1963, this classic book is a rethinking of the history of Western political philosophy. Charles N. R. McCoy contrasts classical-medieval principles against the "hypotheses" at the root of modern liberalism and modern conservativism. In Part I, "The Classical Christian Tradition from Plato to Aquinas," the author lays the foundation for a philosophical "structure" capable of producing "constitutional liberty." Part II, "The Modern Theory of Politics from Machiavelli to Marx," attempts to show, beginning with Machiavelli, the reversal and (...) destruction of the pre-modern "structure" postulated in Part I. McCoy stresses the great contributions of Aristotle to political thought found in his more familiar Ethics and Politics, but also includes key insights drawn from Metaphysics and Physics. These contributions are developed and perfected, McCoy argues, by Augustine and Aquinas. Two other important features include McCoy's epistemological insights into Plato's work that will be new to many readers and the author's juxtaposition of traditional natural law with "the modernized theory of natural law." The modern account of autonomous natural law, in McCoy's view, helps explain the totalitarian direction of key aspects of modern political thought. This classic volume on the origins of modern philosophical thought remains a standard in the field. (shrink)

Despite having put the concept of HPS on the institutional map, N.R. Hanson’s distinctive account of the interdependence between history of science and philosophy of science has been mostly forgotten, and misinterpreted where it is remembered. It is argued that Hanson’s account is worthy of renewed attention and extension since, through its special emphasis on a variety of different normative criteria, it provides the framework for a fruitful and transformative interaction between the two disciplines. This essay also examines two separate (...) threads of Hanson’s account of philosophy of science: his analysis of the conceptual dynamics of science and of the interrelation of the history and philosophy of science. While the two strands appear incongruent, and were perhaps inconsistent, a new interpretation of them is offered which is both consistent with Hanson’s fundamental intuitions and defensible in its own right. It is demonstrated that Hanson’s account compares favorably with those of Kuhn and Lakatos, and that it may provide a constructive means of scaling the barriers erected by fears of the genetic fallacy and ‘whiggish’ history. (shrink)

Biographical sketch -- Philosophical context -- Observation -- Logic of discovery -- Philosophy and history of science -- Quantum theory -- Conceptual structure, analogy, and the logic of discovery revisited.

Bilimin ne olduğunun belirlenmesi ve bu bağlamda bilimin sözde bilim ya da bilimsel olmayan alanlara ilişkin sınırının nasıl çizileceği tartışması, bilim felsefesinde sınır çizme problemi olarak ele alınmaktadır. Çalışmanın ana konusunu oluşturan bu problem, özellikle yirminci yüzyıldan itibaren, bilim felsefecileri tarafından birçok ölçüt ortaya konularak çözümlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu ölçütler genellikle, bilim ile sözde bilim arasındaki sınırı belirlemek amacıyla, bilimi mantık ve mantıksal önermeler üzerinden değerlendirmektedir. Şu ana kadar Viyana Çevresi, Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos gibi filozoflarca ortaya konulan ölçütler, nihai olarak problemi (...) mantıksal açıdan ele almıştır. Sınır çizme sorununun mantıksal açıdan ya da mantıksal ifadeler aracılığıyla ele alınması demek; sorunu içeriği yerine daha çok biçimsel açıdan ele almak anlamına gelmektedir. Ayrıca, ifade, kuram, araştırma programı gibi bilim öğelerinin bilimsellik durumunu tespit edebilmek amacıyla önerilen ölçütün, tek tek gerekli ve hep birlikte yeterli olan uygun sınır çizme ölçütünü karşılaması anlamına da gelmektedir. Bu çalışma, gerek ve yeter koşul arayışının, bilimin değişken ve çeşitli yapısını tam olarak yakalayamayacağını ve bilimin belirlenmesinin ve sınırının çizilmesinin bu yöntemle mümkün olmayacağını vurgulamaktadır. Bu konunun mutlaka sosyolojik açıdan da ele alınması gerekmektedir. Bilimin sosyal yapısına, değerler sistemine de bakmamız gerekir. Sonuç olarak, sınır çizme probleminin gerek ve yeter koşulun ortaya koyduğu katı ve ortak özellikler üzerinden sonuçlandırılamayacağı, bunun yerine bilimin “aile benzerliği yaklaşımı” çerçevesinde ele alınması gerektiği vurgulanacaktır. Aile benzerliği yaklaşımının temel oluşturduğu çok boyutlu ölçüt, bu sorunun çözümünde sosyal etkenleri dâhil etmesi, bilimin çeşitliliğini kapsayabilecek ölçüde çoklu ve esnek yapıda olması ile katkıda bulunacaktır. (shrink)

A well-documented defense of the thesis that St. Augustine held the city of man, especially Rome, to contain many relative goods, however evil it was from the absolute standpoint of goodness consisting in the worship of the true God. O'Meara discusses in some detail many contemporary critics, e.g., Ernest Barker, who oppose this interpretation, and argues on the basis of historical circumstance and Augustine's own declarations in works other than the City of God.--R. C. N.

That mankind's evolution is through genetics and cultural acquisition together, but not through either alone, is the thesis of these interesting Silliman lectures. Dobzhansky examines evolutionary theories from Darwinism to Social Darwinism to show the extent to which genetic inheritance requires certain environmental conditions, and vice versa, for mankind to evolve as it has. He also traces the origin of culture relative to man's genetic make-up, and considers the future impact of civilization, e.g., population expansion, the control of disease instead (...) of the genetic death of those susceptible, etc. The book is well documented and offers an excellent assessment of scientific findings; on the philosophic side, Dobzhansky approves as "a ray of hope," though "patently undemonstrable by scientifically established facts," Teilhard de Chardin's thesis that evolution is going toward "a harmonized collectivity of consciousnesses, equivalent to a kind of superconsciousness."--R. C. N. (shrink)

A detailed and profound discussion of the metaphysics of nature and morality as interpreted by Spinoza's philosophy. Especially interesting are the treatments of nature's status as created and as emanated, which are intended to save Spinoza from traditional criticisms. Although Hallett sometimes allows his defense of Spinoza to take precedence over his direct treatment of nature and morality, he clearly thinks Spinoza is generally right. Distinguished by its sober and courageous attack on unpopular issues.--R. C. N.

The present volume completes the cataloguing of manuscripts. This impressive undertaking will be concluded with one further volume, which will contain addenda and extensive indexes to all the volumes. `a remarkable achievement of scholarship...The descriptions of the manuscripts are full and at the same time admirably concise...Any user of the work, whether his interests are palaeographical, iconographical, or textual, will be deeply grateful for the wealth of information contained in this volume'. Review of English Studies`will be invaluable not only for (...) reference but for the comprehensive and immensely precise assurance that it will give to scholars in every field of medieval studies that nothing relevant to their purposes now lurks in unrecorded concealment'. English Historical Review. (shrink)

This book presents a new understanding of Nietzsche’s view of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Through a careful study of how these philosophers appropriate reason in both life-negating and life-affirming ways, Daw-Nay N. R. Evans Jr. offers a fresh perspective on Nietzsche and classical Greek philosophy.

We study the global properties of [Formula: see text], the Turing degrees of the n-r.e. sets. In Theorem 1.5, we show that the first order of [Formula: see text] is not decidable. In Theorem 1.6, we show that for any two n and m with n < m, [Formula: see text] is not a Σ1-substructure of [Formula: see text].