|
|
|
books
| book details |
Why?: The Philosophy Behind the Question
By (author) Philippe Huneman, Translated by Adam Hocker
|
|
This book is currently unavailable. Enquire to check if we can source a used copy
|
| book description |
A philosopher explores the many dimensions of a beguilingly simple question. Why did triceratops have horns? Why did World War I occur? Why does Romeo love Juliet? And, most importantly, why ask why? Through an analysis of these questions and others, philosopher Philippe Huneman describes the different meanings of ""why,"" and how those meanings can, and should (or should not), be conflated. As Huneman outlines, there are three basic meanings of why: the cause of an event, the reason of a belief, and the reason why I do what I do (the purpose). Each of these meanings, in turn, impacts how we approach knowledge in a wide array of disciplines: science, history, psychology, and metaphysics. Exhibiting a rare combination of conversational ease and intellectual rigor, Huneman teases out the hidden dimensions of questions as seemingly simple as ""Why did Mickey Mouse open the refrigerator?"" or as seemingly unanswerable as ""Why am I me?"" In doing so, he provides an extraordinary tour of canonical and contemporary philosophical thought, from Plato and Aristotle, through Descartes and Spinoza, to Elizabeth Anscombe and Ruth Millikan, and beyond. Of course, no proper reckoning with the question ""why?"" can afford not to acknowledge its limits, which are the limits, and the ends, of reason itself. Huneman thus concludes with a provocative elaboration of what Kant called the ""natural need for metaphysics,"" the unallayed instinct we have to ask the question even when we know there can be no unequivocal answer.
| product details |
Normally shipped |
Publisher | Stanford University Press
Published date | 25 Jul 2023
Language |
Format | Digital download
Pages | 320
Dimensions | 0 x 0 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 0g
ISBN | 978-1-5036-3571-5
Readership Age |
BISAC | philosophy / history & surveys / general
| other options |
|
|
|
To view the items in your trolley please sign in.
| sign in |
|
|
|
| specials |
|
|
Carl Morrow
Paperback / softback
160 pages
was: R 320.95
now: R 288.95
|
In this uniquely Southern African book, Carl Morrow and Keith Kirsten guide readers step by step into the magical realms of bonsai as a hobby, horticultural practice and art form.
|
|
André Alexis
Paperback / softback
176 pages
was: R 280.95
now: R 252.95
|
A pack of dogs are granted the power of human thought - but what will it do to them? A surprising and insightful look at the beauty and perils of consciousness.
|
Our moment has seen the resurgence of an anarchist sensibility, from the uprisings in Seattle in 1999 to the Occupy movement of 2011.
|
|
|
|
