The expanded and revised third edition of this intriguing book considers a range of knotty paradoxes including zenos paradoxical claim that the runner can never overtake the tortoise, a new chapter on paradoxes about. So there are now entries on 84 paradoxes, as well as the entry on paradoxitself. There is also a surprisingly large amount of material on the web. Nicholas rescher university professor of philosophy university of. Nicholas rescher the book addresses the representation of information in linguistic formulation, and modes of cogent demonstration in logic, mathematics, and empirical investigation, as well as the role of logic in philosophical deliberations. Process philosophy views temporality, activity, and change as the cardinal factors for our understanding of the realprocess has priority over product, both ontologically and epistemically. He is the chairman of the center for philosophy of science and has formerly served as chairman of the philosophy department rescher has served as president for the american catholic philosophical association, leibniz society of. This topic has been particularly relevant in nicholas reschers.
Scanlon moritz schlick arthur schopenhauer john searle wilfrid sellars alan sidelle ted sider henry sidgwick walter sinnottarmstrong j. In metaphysical perspectives, nicholas rescher offers a grand vision of how to conceptualize, and in some cases answer, some of the most fundamental issues in metaphysics and value theory. Nicholas reschers 8 categories of basic values cont. Logical analysis in historical application, methodos 11 1959, 178194.
Presumption and the practices of tentative cognition by. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. In the introduction to paradoxes, sainsbury tells the following story. Freedom of the will is nowise at odds with a motivational determinism that places the locus of causal determination is located in the thoughtprocess of the agentwith such determination as there is canalized through the mediation of the choices. A paradox from the greek word meaning contrary to expectation is a statement that seems selfcontradictory but may be true. A primer of the theory of knowledgepresents a compact account of the basic principles of the theory of knowledge. Nicholas rescher makes many strong claims on its behalf.
Many paradoxes raise serious philosophical problems, and they are associated with crises of thought and revolutionary advances. Plenum theory nicholas rescher and patrick grim plena are. I would like to point out the opinion of nicholas rescher who claims that. Suny series in philosophy includes bibliographical references and index. Being and value collects together fifteen essays by nicholas rescher on salient issue in metaphysics, axiology and metaphilosophy. Nicholas rescher 1928 nicholas rescher 1928 is a prominent representative of contemporary pragmatism, but, unlike most analytic thinkers, he managed to establish himself as a systematic philosopher. In the way in which they shed new light on significant philosophical issues, these deliberations are emblematic of reschers characteristic way of illuminating timeless issues and historical perspectives in a reciprocal interrelationship.
Nicholas rescher is the author of process metaphysics 3. The background my body pdf of temporal logic nicholas rescher, alasdair urquhart download pdf 1624kb. In particular, he built a system of pragmatic idealism that combines elements of the european continental idealism with american pragmatism. Every time rescher writes a book, it seems, he founds or at least. Process metaphysics in general, and in this book the first chapter gives a brief historical overview after which the basics are given, then the book examines the different topics where process metaphysics has been applied in chapters on particulars, universals, philosophy of nature, persons, logic and epistemology, science, theology, and. In philosophical inquiries, nicholas rescher offers his perspectives on many of the foundational concerns of philosophy and reminds us that the purpose of philosophy is to question the questions. Process philosophy surveys the basic issues and controversies surrounding the philosophical approach known as process philosophy. From reschers argument relying on zenos arrow paradox to. Their roots, range and resolution and roy sorensen 2003 a brief history of the paradox. Paradox is the product not of a mistake in reasoning but of a defect of substance. He opposed the teaching of newtons principia, which casts space and.
While rescher may seem a latecomer to process philosophy, his affinity for process thought appears quite natural. Being and value and other philosophical essays by nicholas. Rescher, nicholas internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Foreword to the second edition ten new paradoxes have been added. Nicholas rescher s book about paradoxes is a handbooklike monograph, a compact and accessible systematization of the existing literature on paradoxes that surveys more then one hundred and thirty paradoxes.
I think my very first exposure to philosophy was a book by a man called will durant, who ultimately. In a productive research career extending over six decades he has more than one hundred books to this credit. Psycho has given you an apple which you have eaten. I also love nicholas reschers books, of which hes written many. Quine sidney hook hilary putnam richard rorty nicholas rescher paul kurtz joseph margolis cornel west. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Allais paradox, the cable guy, the charitable trust, the chicken and the egg, the paradox of interesting numbers, the muddy children, the numbered balls, the recent and striking parrondo paradox, the self amendment paradoxand the paradox of voting.
Exploring the distinction between truth and plausibility, the author presents a standardized, straightforward approach for deciphering paradoxes one that can be applied to all their forms, whether. Pdf in this chapter on knowledge, truth, epistemology and logic, n. Nicholas rescher a paradox from the greek word meaning contrary to expectation is a statement that seems selfcontradictory but may be true. Rietdijk richard rorty josiah royce bertrand russell paul russell gilbert ryle jeanpaul sartre kenneth sayre t. Psycho in his book paradoxes nicholas rescher presents us with a paradoxical case in which he claims that rational decision theory breaks down rescher, 2001, pp. Inductive independence and the paradoxes of confirmation 24 wesley c. Among them, in chapter x of process metaphysics, he credits process philosophy with the uncommon virtues of reflexive consistency and metaphilosophical coherence.
The goal is to trace the structure of reflexivity in sentences, sets, and. Amsterdam northholland publishing co studies in logic series edited by l. Rescher 2001 paradoxes free ebook download as pdf file. In presumption and the practices of tentative cognition, nicholas rescher endeavors to show that the process of presumption plays a role of virtually indispensable utility in matters of rational inquiry and communication. Bradley, a wellknown british idealist at the turn of the 20th century, is rather popular today and is an important feature of this work by a contemporary american idealist. Heretofore such supposedly paradoxical items as the set of all sets or the number of all numbers have been dismissed as incoherent, and selfinconsistent, and. Born in hagen, germany in 1928, nicholas rescher came to the usa at the age of ten.
Nicholas rescher was born in germany in 1928, and in 1938 his family emigrated to the united states, after his fathers law practice was ruined by his opposition to nazis. Nicholas rescher philosophy university of pittsburgh. This picture shows a person licking honey from sword. In doing this, nicholas rescher aims to fill the current gap in contemporary philosophical theory of knowledge with a comprehensive analysis. Pdf an interview with nicholas rescher charlie hobbs.
Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this nicholas rescher study guide and get instant access to the following biography. Exploring the distinction between truth and plausibility, the author presents a standardized, straightforward approach for deciphering paradoxes one that can be applied to all their forms, whether clever wordplay or more complex issues. Intrinsic goods desired because of their nature not derived from other goods joy, pleasure mural painting from jain digambara temple for jaipur depicting vedaniya karma pleasure and pain inducing karmas. Rescher sees the need to inquire as an evolutionary tool for adapting to a hostile environment and shows how philosophy has thus developed in an evolutionary fashion, building upon acquired. Books philosophical reasoning by nicholas rescher james thomas explores a pragmatic but idealistic book about truth by nicholas rescher adopting one or more of the views of f. Nicholas rescher gets the title right, and quotes several excellent passages from millerhobart.
Quine 19082000 visit the cambridge school of pragmatism and the quine website quine, w. Reflexivity by nicholas rescher, patrick grim pdf, ebook read. Pdf paradoxes are a relatively frequent occurrence in physics. It has thus come to represent a region where lawyers, debaters, and philosophers can all find some common around. Patrick grim, nicholas rescher the book seeks to characterize reflexive conceptual structures more thoroughly and more precisely than has been done before, making explicit the structure of paradox and the clear connections to major logical results. He explains and analyzes over paradoxes, showing how they can all be handled by one approach. Section ii is an extended tour of some of the remarkable images generated under such graphic analysis by both familiar paradoxes. In his book paradoxes nicholas rescher presents us with a paradoxical case in which he claims that rational decision theory breaks down rescher, 2001, pp. He did his undergraduate studies at queens college in flushing, right after the second world war, graduating at the age of 21.
Therein he defended the superiority of contemporary processual modes of thought to the more traditional substanceoriented approaches to reality in the history of western philosophy. Request pdf on jan 1, 2004, andrea cantini and others published nicholas rescher, paradoxes. He introduces us to the major thinkers, texts, and historical periods of western philosophy, recounting many of the stories philosophers have used over time to engage with issues of philosophical concern. Philosophical reasoning by nicholas rescher issue 47. From paradox to consciousness patrick grim, nicholas rescher the book seeks to characterize reflexive conceptual structures more thoroughly and more precisely than has been done before, making explicit the structure of paradox and the clear connections to major logical results. He is distinguished university professor of philosophy at the university of pittsburgh, where he has also served as chairman of the philosophy department and a director and currently.
Nicholas rescher presents the first comprehensive chronology of philosophical anecdotes, spanning from antiquity to the current era. Smart saul smilansky michael smith baruch spinoza l. In this fresh and uncluttered approach, nicholas rescher introduces the subject, surveys the entire range of types of paradoxes, and introduces an integrated theory of paradoxes. In 1996 nicholas rescher, university professor of philosophy at the university of pittsburgh, published a slim volume entitled process metaphysics. Rescher addresses what he sees as the three prime areas of metaphysical concern.
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