Walking the Tightrope of Reason: The Precarious Life of a Rational AnimalOxford University Press, 2003 M07 17 - 224 pages Human beings are both supremely rational and deeply superstitious, capable of believing just about anything and of questioning just about everything. Indeed, just as our reason demands that we know the truth, our skepticism leads to doubts we can ever really do so. In Walking the Tightrope of Reason, Robert J. Fogelin guides readers through a contradiction that lies at the very heart of philosophical inquiry. Fogelin argues that our rational faculties insist on a purely rational account of the universe, yet at the same time, the inherent limitations of these faculties ensure that we will never fully satisfy that demand. As a result of being driven to this point of paradox, we either comfort ourselves with what Kant called "metaphysical illusions" or adopt a stance of radical skepticism. No middle ground seems possible and, as Fogelin shows, skepticism, even though a healthy dose of it is essential for living a rational life, "has an inherent tendency to become unlimited in its scope, with the result that the edifice of rationality is destroyed." In much Postmodernist thought, for example, skepticism takes the extreme form of absolute relativism, denying the basis for any value distinctions and treating all truth-claims as equally groundless. How reason avoids disgracing itself, walking a fine line between dogmatic belief and self-defeating doubt, is the question Fogelin seeks to answer. Reflecting upon the ancient Greek skeptics as well as such thinkers as Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche, and Whitman, this book takes readers into--and through--some of philosophy's most troubling paradoxes. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
Why Obey the Laws of Logic? | 17 |
Dilemmas and Paradoxes | 41 |
Pure Reason and Its Illusions | 69 |
Skepticism | 95 |
Modest Responses to These Challenges | 127 |
Matters of Taste | 145 |
Last Words | 163 |
NOTES | 171 |
189 | |
195 | |
Other editions - View all
Walking the Tightrope of Reason: The Precarious Life of a Rational Animal Robert Fogelin Limited preview - 2003 |
Walking the Tightrope of Reason: The Precarious Life of a Rational Animal Robert Fogelin Limited preview - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
accept answer arise Aristotle attempt beauty called cartesian skepticism chapter commitment complete conceptual consequentialist constraints contradiction criterion of truth deontological Descartes dialectical illusions dilemma-prone Dostoyevsky’s epistemology example experience fact false feature Five Modes Fogelin force fundamental Heracleitean Heracleitus Hume Hume’s Ibid idea inconsistency intellectual Kant Kant’s kind knowledge claims language law of noncontradiction least level of scrutiny liar paradox logical Ludwig Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwigean matter mechanism metaphysical mind moral nihilism notion Parmenidean perhaps person philosophical Philosophical Investigations play position precarious principle proposition Protagoras Pure Reason Pyrrhonian skeptic Pyrrhonist question radical choice radical perspectivism rational animals reflecting refute reject the law relativism rules that govern seems sense sentence Sextus Empiricus simply skeptical arguments skeptical challenges skeptical scenarios someone standards of taste suppose suspension of belief systems of rules theory things thought tion true truth table wholly Wittgenstein words