In the twentieth century English-language philosophy came to be science- and logic-oriented, and was suspicious of metaphysics. The Disappearance of the Soul and the Turn against Metaphysics traces our present philosophical outlook back to debates in Austro-German philosophy about the relation between empirical science and metaphysics: does empirical psychology depend on the metaphysics of the soul, the mental substance? The negative answer - that there is 'a psychology without a soul' - shaped Austrian philosophy and provided a model for ontologies that dispense with substances. Mark Textor tells the story of how and why (Austrian) philosophy turned against metaphysics . He introduces the key thinkers of the time, including the 'fathers of Austrian philosophy' Franz Brentano and Ernst Mach, whose Intentionalism (Brentano) and Neutral Monism (Mach) became distinctive and influential positions in the philosophy of mind. Textor goes on to use the 'psychology without a soul' view as a vantage point from which to reconstruct and assess the immediate pre-history and formation of analytic philosophy (Ward, Stout, Moore, Russell). While Austrian philosophers retired the soul, early analytic philosophers were happy to introduce a successor, the subject, and conceive of the mental as constituted by subject-object relations. The final part of the book returns to the theme of anti-metaphysics from a different perspective. In this part the early Moritz Schlick, who would soon become the leading figure of the Vienna Circle, takes centre stage. The final part of the book reconstructs Schlick's arguments for the conclusion that metaphysics lies beyond the limits of knowledge that are rooted in the philosophy of mind discussed in previous parts.

The Disappearance of the Soul and the Turn against Metaphysics: Austrian Philosophy 1874-1918 (The Oxford History of Philosophy)

Politics & Social Sciences

Textor, Mark

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

The great Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905-81) offers a distinctive assessment and comparative critique of two key thinkers in Kierkegaard's and Heidegger's Analysis of Existence and its Relation to Proclamation (1950). Løgstrup focuses on the central idea from Kierkegaard and Heidegger that our individuality and authenticity are threatened by 'life in the crowd' or 'das Man'. According to Løgstrup, Kierkegaard holds that the only way to escape the crowd is through a relation to an infinite demand which he nonetheless leaves empty, while Heidegger avoids offering any kind of ethics at all. Arguing against both philosophers, Løgstrup himself proposes an ethic which is not just a set of social rules, but which is also more contentful than Kierkegaard's infinite demand: namely, the requirement to care for the other person whose life is placed in your hands. This call to care for the other person becomes central to Løgstrup's position in his most famous publication The Ethical Demand (1956), so this earlier work, based on lectures given in Berlin, provides a crucial insight into the development of his thought. This is the first English translation of an original and compelling text by Løgstrup, rendered into accurate prose and paired with an introduction which explains the main themes and wider context of the work.

Kierkegaard's and Heidegger's Analysis of Existence and its Relation to Proclamation (Selected Works of K.E. Logstrup)

Bennett, Christopher

Saunders, Joe

Leech, Jessica

Løgstrup, K. E.

Mark Textor presents a critical study of the work of Franz Brentano, one of the most important thinkers of the nineteenth century. His work has influenced analytic philosophers like Russell as well as phenomenologists like Husserl and Sartre, and continues to shape debates in the philosophy of mind. Brentano made intentionality a central topic in the philosophy of mind by proposing that 'directedness' is the distinctive feature of the mental. The first part of the book investigates Brentano's intentionalism as well as attempts to improve or develop it. Textor argues that there is no plausible version of this doctrine, and rejects it in favour of a mark of the mental proposed by Brentano's student Husserl: mental phenomena have no appearances. The second part of the book develops and defends Brentano's view about the structure of perceptual awareness. Awareness of a mental activity and this mental activity are not distinct mental acts, the first representing the second. They are one and the same activity that has several objects. Textor shows that Brentano held that intentionality is plural - directedness is directedness on some objects - and shows how the plural conception solves thorny problems. The third part of the book is devoted to Brentano's view of pleasure and pain. Textor draws out parallels between enjoying an activity and awareness of it and argues that enjoying an activity and the activity enjoyed are not distinct. The final part of the book extends the plural view to the conscious mental life of a thinker at a time (the unity of synchronic consciousness): it is one mental act with many objects.

Brentano's Mind

Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) is considered the father of modern logic and one of the founding figures of analytic philosophy. He was first and foremost a mathematician, but his major works also made important contributions to the philosophy of language. Frege’s writings are difficult and deal with technical, abstract concepts. The Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Frege On Sense and Reference helps the student to get to grips with Frege’s thought, and introduces and assesses: <ul>
<li>the background of Frege’s philosophical work</li> <li>Frege’s main papers and arguments, focussing on his distinction between sense and reference</li> <li>the continuing importance of Frege’s work to philosophy of logic and language.</li> </ul>
Ideal for those coming to Frege for the first time, and containing fresh insights for anyone interested in his philosophy, this Guidebook is essential reading for all students of philosophy of language, philosophical logic and the history of analytic philosophy.

Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Frege on Sense and Reference (Routledge Philosophy GuideBooks)

Routledge

Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Frege on Sense and Reference

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