Walking the Tightrope of Reason: The Precarious Life of a Rational Animal
Why should we assume that patterns learned though past experience can be reliably projected onto the future? With this perplexing question, Fogelin confronts just one of the troublesome problems awaiting anyone who would think both deeply and rigorously. In a series of refreshingly lucid reflections, Fogelin allows the nonspecialist to peer into the tangled controversies that surround the logicians' work. Even the simple principle of non-contradiction (foundational to logic since before Aristotle) bends under the pressure of some of life's paradoxes. And in his broader survey of conceptual philosophy, Fogelin stresses that deeper study does not necessarily lead us to intellectual certainties. Indeed, he warns that excessive reliance on purely conceptual thought puts us at risk of falling into radical skepticism or rootless relativism. For the sake of their intellectual well-being, readers are urged to seek out direct personal experiences that will test abstract theories. A rare book that makes philosophy matter for ordinary people in everyday life.Bryce ChristensenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.