cloth 0-87722-784-5 $72.50, May 91, Out of Stock Unavailable
325 pp
6x9
"Just possibly a landmark book. Adams writes very well and his illustrations are very good. He also displays great erudition."
Richard Taylor, University of Rochester
A great fissure occurred in Western civilization in the early modern period with the divorce between the humanities and the sciences and the rise of scientific naturalism. The Metaphysics of Self and World is a philosophical exploration of the relationship between the individual, the culture, and the world. It is, in the author�s words, "a philosophy of the humanities, a philosophy of humanity, and a philosophy of social reality." It explores the implications of a world-view that would integrate the perspective of the sciences with humanistic ways of thought.
E.M. Adams claims that we do violence to ourselves as human beings by trying to fit into the world as delineated in scientific categories. Rejecting cultural subjectivism and scientific naturalism, he argues for the irreducibility and validity of the categories of the humanities and for a fully developed humanistic philosophy of self and world. In generating this world-view, he utilizes the humanities as a source of culture therapy in order to close the fissure in Western civilization.
"A very impressive, well-written, and philosophically sound work. With this volume, Adams rounds out a major contribution to contemporary philosohy and cultural criticism."
Douglas Browning, University of Texas at Austin
"E. M. Adams is one of America's most distinguished philosophers. The Metaphysics of Self and World is a masterpiece in philosophy, original and persuasive, profound and clear, tightly argued yet dealing with major philosophical and cultural issues, reaching the heights of speculative theory while also affording wise and compassionate insight into urgent practical problems. All those who take philosophy seriously, as well as all those concerned about the present plight of the humanities and the predicament of mankind in the midst of science and technology, will learn immeasurable from reading it."
Andrew J. Reck, Tulane University
Preface
1. Self and World: The Problem
2. The Humanities and Cultural Criticism
The Humanities
The Social Character of a Culture
The Structure of Feeling of a Culture
Philosophy and the Cultural Mind
Philosophical Skepticism
Categorial Analysis
Categorial Analysis Illustrated
The Importance of Epistemology
How Metaphysics is Possible
Conclusion
3. Meaning and Subjectivity
A Realistic Theory of Meaning and Subjectivity
Representationalism: The Naturalistic Challenge
The Classical Empiricist Theory of Representations
The Modern Functionalist Theory of Representations
Criticism of Modern Functionalism
Functional Theory of Sense Experience
Functional Theory of Propositional Attitudes
Functional Language
The Irreducibility of the Language of Meaning
Conclusion
4. Knowledge and Objectivity
Behavioral Knowledge
Rational Knowledge
A Naturalistic Theory of Rational Knowledge
A Humanistic Theory of Rational Knowledge
Behavioral and Rational Knowledge Contrasted Objectivity
Levels of Subjective and Objective Appraisals
The Objectivity of Secondary Qualities
The Spread of Subjectivism
Conclusion
5. Semantic and Epistemic Powers of the Human Mind
Grounds of the Culture
Epistemic Encounters
Modes of Epistemic Encounters
Somatic Sensations
Sensory Experience
Affective and Conative Experience
Self-Awareness
Memory
Reflective Awareness and Rational Intuition
Perceptual Understanding
Conclusion
6. The Subjective and Normative Structure of Selfhood
Persons
Human Beings
Logic and Selfhood
The Nature of Logic
Logic and the Mental
Logic and the Ethics of Thought
Rationality and the Unconscious
Ethics and Selfhood
The Form of a Moral Life
The Goal of a Moral Life
Principles of Life Criticism
Conclusion
7. Persons and the Normative Structure of Society
The Individual and Society
The Normative Structure of Society
Social Organization
Cultural Institutions
Economic Institutions
Political Institutions
Conclusion
8. Toward a Humanistic World-View
Summing Up
A Humanistic World-View
Religion, Theology, and Ultimate Reality
Notes
Index
E. M. Adams is Kenan Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has written numerous books and articles, and a festschrift celebrating his work, Mind, Value, and Culture: Essays in Honor of E. M. Adams (edited by David Weissbord), was published in 1989. He is also the author of Religion and Cultural Freedom. |
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