Pragmatic liberalism and the critique of modernity / Gary Gutting.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gutting, Gary.

Series:

Modern European philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rorty, Richard.

Macintyre, Alasdair.

Taylor, Charles, 1931-.

Taylor, Charles.

Reason.

Ethics, Modern--20th century.

Ethics, Modern.

Philosophy, Modern--20th century.

Philosophy, Modern.

Physical Description:

xii, 198 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In This Book Gary Gutting offers a powerful account of the nature of human reason in modern times. The fundamental question addressed by the book is what authority human reason can still claim once it is acknowledged that our fundamental metaphysical and religious pictures of the world no longer command allegiance. If ethics and science remain sources of authority, what is the basis of that authority?

Gutting develops answers to these questions through critical analysis of the work of three major philosophical voices in our time: Richard Rorty, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor. His own position is defined as "pragmatic liberalism". Epistemologically, pragmatic liberalism shows that an understanding of rationality as the social practice of reason-giving is consistent with a realism about both the commonsense and scientific worlds. Ethically, it shows that we can make sense of our ethical commitments without asserting the objectivity of values. In contrast to other versions of liberalism, pragmatic liberalism accepts the value of traditions without privileging one absolutely, and is also open to religion as an ineliminable possibility of our mysterious existence.

This robust defense of the modern ideal of Enlightenment reason will appeal to a broad swathe of readers across the humanities and social sciences especially in such fields as philosophy, literature, and political theory. The interpretations of Rorty, MacIntyre, and Taylor will make the book suitable as a coursebook for those teaching the history of modern philosophy.

Contents:

Introduction The Question of Modernity 1

I Richard Rorty: The Rudiments of Pragmatic Liberalism 7

1 The Philosophy of Representations 8

2 Knowledge without Representations 15

3 Justification as a Social Practice 19

4 The Problem of Truth 25

5 Davidsonian Therapy 32

6 Truth and Science 40

7 Ethics without Foundations 48

8 Liberal Ironism 58

II Alasdair MacIntyre: A Modern Malgre Lui 69

1 MacIntyre's Critique of the Enlightenment 70

2 Which Enlightenment? 75

3 In Defense of Enlightenment Humanism 80

4 The Lure of Tradition 86

5 The Tradition of the Virtues 92

6 MacIntyre and Modernity 97

7 MacIntyre versus Pragmatic Liberalism 107

III Charles Taylor: An Augustinian Modern 113

1 Taylor's Historical Project 114

2 Locke and the Radical Enlightenment 118

3 The Primacy of Everyday Life 124

4 Beyond the Enlightenment: Evil, Romanticism, and Poetic Truth 129

5 Taylor's Critique of Naturalism 136

6 Williams and Objectivity 141

7 Naturalism and Hypergoods 148

Pragmatic Liberalism: Concluding Reflections 163

1 Recapitulation 163

2 Metaphilosophical Coda 177.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

052164013X

0521649730

OCLC:

39655590