Scientific Explanation

RESCHER, NICHOLAS

Science & Math

Free Pr

Nicholas Rescher presents a critical reaction against two currently influential tendencies of thought. On the one hand, he rejects the facile relativism that pervades contemporary social and academic life. On the other hand, he opposes the rationalism inherent in neo-contractarian theory--both in the idealized communicative-contract version promoted in continental European political philosophy by J;urgen Habermas, and in the idealized social contract version of the theory of political justice promoted in the Anglo-American context by John Rawls. Against such tendencies, Rescher's pluralist approach takes a more realistic and pragmatic line, eschewing the convenient recourse of idealization in cognitive and practical matters. Instead of a utopianism that looks to a uniquely perfect order that would prevail under ideal conditions, he advocates incremental improvements within the framework of arrangements that none of us will deem perfect but that all of us "can live with." Such an approach replaces the yearning for an unattainable consensus with the institution of pragmatic arrangements in which the community will acquiesce--not through agreeing on their optimality, but through a shared recognition among the dissonant parties that the available options are even worse.

Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Clarendon Press

Nicholas Rescher presents a critical reaction against two currently influential tendencies of thought. On the one hand, he rejects the facile relativism that pervades contemporary social and academic life. On the other hand, he opposes the rationalism inherent in neo-contractarian theory--both in the idealized communicative-contract version promoted in continental European political philosophy by J;urgen Habermas, and in the idealized social contract version of the theory of political justice promoted in the Anglo-American context by John Rawls. Against such tendencies, Rescher's pluralist approach takes a more realistic and pragmatic line, eschewing the convenient recourse of idealization in cognitive and practical matters. Instead of a utopianism that looks to a uniquely perfect order that would prevail under ideal conditions, he advocates incremental improvements within the framework of arrangements that none of us will deem perfect but that all of us "can live with." Such an approach replaces the yearning for an unattainable consensus with the institution of pragmatic arrangements in which the community will acquiesce--not through agreeing on their optimality, but through a shared recognition among the dissonant parties that the available options are even worse.

Oxford University Press

The coherence theory of truth (Clarendon library of logic and philosophy)

Contending that only a normative theory of rationality can be adequate to the complexities of the subject, this book explains and defends the view that rationality consists of the intelligent pursuit of appropriate objectives. Rescher considers the mechanics, rationale, and rewards of reason, and argues that social scientists who want to present a theory of rationality while avoiding the vexing complexities of normative deliberations must amend their perspective of the rational enterprise.

Rationality: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Nature and the Rationale of Reason (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Exploring the central ideas of traditional metaphysics--such as the simplicity of nature, its comprehensibility, or its systematic integrity--this book analyzes looking at such notions from a scientific point of view. It seeks to describe in a clear, accessible manner the metaphysical situation that characterizes the process of inquiry in natural science, aiming to shed light on reality by examining the modus operandi of natural science itself and focusing as much on its findings as on its conceptual and methodological presuppositions. Written by an eminent scholar of philosophy, this book is the culmination of many years of penetrating work. It is the definitive presentation of some of Nicholas Rescher's most fascinating ideas and is an engaging source for philosophers and non-philosophers alike.

Nature and Understanding: The Metaphysics and Methods of Science

Nature and Understanding: The Metaphysics and Methods of Science (Metaphysics and Method of Science)

A unified treatment of conditionals based on epistemological principles rather than the semantical principles in vogue over recent decades.
This book by distinguished philosopher Nicholas Rescher seeks to clarify the idea of what a conditional says by elucidating the information that is normally transmitted by its utterance. The result is a unified treatment of conditionals based on epistemological principles rather than the semantical principles in vogue over recent decades. This approach, argues Rescher, makes it easier to understand how conditionals actually function in our thought and discourse. In its concern with what language theorists call pragmatics―the study of the norms and principles governing our use of language in conveying information― Conditionals steps beyond the limits of logic as traditionally understood and moves into the realm claimed by theorists of artificial intelligence as they try to simulate our actual information-processing practices. The book's treatment of counterfactuals essentially revives an epistemological approach proposed by F. P. Ramsey in the 1920s and developed by Rescher himself in the 1960s but since overshadowed by the now-dominant possible-worlds approach. Rescher argues that the increasingly evident liabilities of the possible-worlds strategy make a reappraisal of the older style of analysis both timely and desirable. As the book makes clear, an epistemological approach demonstrates that counterfactual reasoning, unlike inductive inference, is not a matter of abstract reasoning alone but one of good judgment and common sense.

Conditionals

MIT Press]

Pascal's Wager: A Study of Practical Reasoning in Philosophical Theology

Religion & Spirituality

Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Objectivity: The Obligations of Impersonal Reason (102)

Philosopher Nicholas Rescher presents an original pragmatic defense of objectivity. He employs reasoned argumentation in making the case for restoring objectivity to a place of prominence in philosophic and social discourse. By tracing it back to the very core of rationality itself, Rescher locates objectivity’s reason for being deep in our nature as rational animals.

University of Notre Dame Press

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Books by RESCHER, NICHOLAS

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by RESCHER, NICHOLAS. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Scientific Explanation

Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

The coherence theory of truth (Clarendon library of logic and philosophy)

Rationality: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Nature and the Rationale of Reason (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Nature and Understanding: The Metaphysics and Methods of Science

Nature and Understanding: The Metaphysics and Methods of Science (Metaphysics and Method of Science)

Conditionals

Pascal's Wager: A Study of Practical Reasoning in Philosophical Theology

Objectivity: The Obligations of Impersonal Reason (102)