Reason Truth And Reality

Basing consideration upon a characterization of reason in its deductive, inductive, and ethical functioning, Goldstick asks what must hold good for reason so characterized to be a dependable guide to truth.

'This is a timely book, with penetrating discussion of issues very much in the forefront of the contemporary philosophy. Despite the prominence of negative arguments it contains much to contribute positively to our understanding of what is needed for a conception of rationality and objectivity that covers ethics and value theory generally as well as physics.'

Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth? Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see.

In this work Paul Murray explores which style of rationality is most appropriate to Christian theology in the contemporary pluralist, postfoundationalist, postmodern context. At its heart is a fresh consideration of the American pragmatist tradition, focussing on the writings of Richard Rorty and Nicholas Rescher. Where Rorty correctly diagnoses the failures of foundationalist "objectivism", Rescher's "pragmatic idealism" is presented as healing the ills in Rorty's own neo-pragmatism. The significant resonance between Rescher's view of rationality and Christian understanding of the trinity is explored. In turn, Donald MacKinnon's influential writings are presented as exemplifying just such an approach to theology. Murray both articulates an enriched form of Christian postliberalism, committed to receiving and learning from other traditions of thought and practice and probes the claim that the dynamics of human rationality can be expected to reflect the Trinitarian dynamics of God's being. "Paul Murray presents us here with an exhaustive and insightful study of recent pragmatic theory, in which he sets up rhythms of healing and completion as well as interrogation... particularly remarkable is his exploration of Christianity as the deep and in some sense final interlocutor of pragmatic tradition. I strongly recommend this book." Olivier Davis, Professor of Christian Doctrine, King's College London. "This is a mature, wide-ranging work that by uniting the intellectual and the practical carries both rational and ethical conviction. It does equal justice to the classic teachings of Christianity and to the challenges to rethink them in dialogue with modern and postmodern approaches. The result is a conception of Christianity both generously orthodox and deeply engaged with contemporary life and thought. It is especially good to see the profound contribution of Donald MacKinnon understood and developed with such perception and relevance." David F. Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge. Paul Murray is currently Lecturer in Systematic Theology within the Department of Theology at the University of Durham, England. He has previously held posts at St Cuthbert's Seminary, Ushaw College, Durham and Newman College of Higher Education, Birmingham. Essays of his exploring issues in philosophical theology, science and theology and contemporary Roman Catholic theology have appeared in leading journals and edited collections. This is his first monograph.

This masterful and wide-ranging work by prominent Oxford University philosopher Lucas asks what reality is and how to reason about it.

Preeminent American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859-1952) rejected Hegelian idealism for the pragmatism of William James. In this collection of informal originally published between 1897 and 1909, Dewey articulates his now classic philosophical concepts of knowledge and truth and the nature of reality. Here Dewey introduces his scientific method and uses critical intelligence to reject the traditional ways of viewing philosophical discourse. Knowledge cannot be divorced from experience; it is gradually acquired through interaction with nature. Philosophy, therefore, has to be regarded as itself a method of knowledge and not as a repository of disembodied, pre-existing absolute truths.