Free Downloads

From Metaphysics To Ethics: A Defence Of Conceptual Analysis

Frank Jackson champions the cause of conceptual analysis as central to philosophical inquiry. In recent years conceptual analysis has been undervalued and widely misunderstood, suggests Jackson. He argues that such analysis is mistakenly clouded in mystery, preventing a whole range of important questions from being productively addressed. He anchors his argument in discussions of specific philosophical issues, starting with the metaphysical doctrine of physicalism and moving on, via free will, meaning, personal identity, motion, and change, to ethics and the philosophy of color. In this way the book not only offers a methodological program for philosophy, but also casts new light on some much-debated problems and their interrelations.

Paperback: 192 pages

Publisher: Clarendon Press (May 11, 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0198250614

ISBN-13: 978-0198250616

Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.6 x 5.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Best Sellers Rank: #877,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #32 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Analytic Philosophy #382 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy > Metaphysics #1503 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Metaphysics

With this work, Frank Jackson has provided us with a much needed explicitation of the assumptions underlying most forms of philosophical analysis. Indeed, Jackson argues forcefully that conceptual analysis is much more prevalent in philosophical works than is admitted by many of Jacksons colleages. One of the most important insights offered in this work is the idea that metaphysics, if done seriously, must depend strongly on folk intuitions. The intuitions about when 'the folk' would plausibly apply a certain concept reveils the 'folk theory'. The metaphysician's job is then to locate these intuitions in a coherent account of 'what there is' in the traditional sense. Consequently, Jackson offers two examples of such analysis, namely colours and ethics. Both are located in the natural world: colours as the surface properties which cause our colour experiences and ethical properties as concealed descriptive properties. Whether you agree with these conclusions or not, the line of thought is both clear and sharp. Throughout, Jackson remains true to his general points, which are that metaphysics has to do with analysis of folk concepts as much as empirical discovery. This inevitably leads to considerations on Kripke and Putnam and the nature of so-called 'a posteriori necessities'. Jackson argues that the fallacious intuition that such exist stems from the fact that a single sentence may express different propositions, depending on its intension. Thus 'water is H2O' may express the necessary (and a priori) truth that 'what is actually water is H20' or it may express the contingent (and a posteriori) proposition that 'the watery stuff of our acquaintance is H20'. This is a profound insight, which solves many sceptical worries instigated by the Quinean movement. The distinctions a priori/a posteriori and contingent/necessary may now be employed with a clear conscience; something which has been difficult ever since Quine's Two Dogmas first appeared half a century ago. Not all will agree with Jackson's line of argument but the clarity of his claims and significance of their implications make this book a great asset for anyone interested in metaphysics and the philosophy of language.

From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis Philosophy 101: From Plato and Socrates to Ethics and Metaphysics, an Essential Primer on the History of Thought (Adams 101) The Defence of Duffer's Drift: and The Battle of Booby's Bluffs by Major Single List A Defence of Calvinism The Security and Defence Policy in the European Union Combating Corruption, Encouraging Ethics: A Practical Guide to Management Ethics Jewish Ethics and Halakhah for Our Time: Sources and Commentary, Vol. 11 (Library of Jewish Law and Ethics) Ethics and Animals: An Introduction (Cambridge Applied Ethics) Religious Perspectives on Business Ethics: An Anthology (Religion and Business Ethics) Law, Liability, and Ethics for Medical Office Professionals (Law, Liability, and Ethics Fior Medical Office Professionals) Biomedical Ethics (Biomedical Ethics (Mappes)) Management Ethics: Placing Ethics at the Core of Good Management (IESE Business Collection) Conceptual Art A&I (Art and Ideas) A Conceptual Guide to OpenOffice.org 2 for Windows and Linux Practical Guide to SAP ABAP: Part1: Conceptual Design, Development, Debugging The Poetics of Information Overload: From Gertrude Stein to Conceptual Writing Conceptual Physics : The High School Physics Program The Conceptual Foundations of the Statistical Approach in Mechanics (Dover Books on Physics) Conceptual Foundations of Occupational Therapy Practice Integrative Health Promotion: Conceptual Bases For Nursing Practice