The True And The Good

"Among the foremost Catholic philosophers of his generation. He has utilized the fullness of the Catholic intellectual tradition to brilliantly take the measure of modern philosophical thought . . . This volume is an expression of Robert Wood's singular philosophical outlook." -Jude Dougherty, dean emeritus, school of philosophy, The Catholic University of America

Much contemporary metaphysics, moved by an apparent necessity to take reality to consist of given beings and properties, presents us with what appear to be deep problems requiring radical changes in the common sense conception of persons and the world. Contemporary meta-ethics ignores questions about logical form and formulates questions in ways that make the possibility of correct value judgments mysterious. In this book, Wheeler argues that given a Davidsonian understanding of truth, predication, and interpretation, and given a relativised version of Aristotelian essentialism compatible with Davidson’s basic thinking, many metaphysical problems are not very deep. Likewise, many philosophers' claims that common sense needs to be modified are unfounded. He argues further that a proper consideration of questions of logical form clarifies and illuminates meta-ethical questions. Although the analyses and arguments he gives are often at odds with those at which Davidson arrived, they apply the central Davidsonian insights about semantics, understanding, and interpretation.

Philosophical thinking about truth has revolved around two key questions. First, what is the nature of truth? Second, why should we value it? It has proven difficult to answer both questions at once. Some theories analyse truth in terms of goodness. Truth is a specific kind of goodness for beliefs. They have an easy explanation of truth's value, but they obscure the connection between truth and how things are. What does belief have to do with whether it's true that there is water on Mars? Other theories treat truth as a descriptive feature: a claim is true when things are as it says they are. Such theories face a version of G. E. Moore's open question problem. How could a claim's purely descriptive features make it good or right to believe? The problem of truth's value is the problem of reconciling a good theory of what truth is with a good theory of why truth is valuable. This is the first monograph focused on solving it for theories that construe truth in the purely descriptive way. Drawing on minimal assumptions about truth's nature, it proposes a virtue-theoretic understanding of truth's value. The attitude of valuing truth is a morally laudable character trait. That is, it's a virtue. But its virtuousness doesn't stem from the nature of truth. It arises because, in manifesting the trait, we promote the overall good. A good society needs to members who value truth over falsehood and ignorance, for themselves and for others.

Dr. David K. Naugle is widely regarded as a leading thinker in the area of Christian worldview formation. As Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Dallas Baptist University, he has drawn accolades and admiration. This collection in his honor demonstrates that intellectual pursuits are inherently spiritual, that no area of life is separate from the lordship of Christ, and that true Christian faith is in fact the deep fulfillment of the human experience. On topics ranging from linguistics to gardening and everything in between, these essays represent the depth and breadth of the idea that all goodness is God’s goodness, all truth is God’s truth, and all beauty is God’s beauty.

ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH. Too Good to Be True is an obsessive, addictive love story for fans of Lisa Jewell and The Wife Upstairs, from Carola Lovering, the beloved author of Tell Me Lies. Skye Starling is overjoyed when her boyfriend, Burke Michaels, proposes after a whirlwind courtship. Though Skye seems to have the world at her fingertips—she’s smart, beautiful, and from a well-off family—she’s also battled crippling OCD ever since her mother’s death when she was eleven, and her romantic relationships have suffered as a result. But now Burke—handsome, older, and more emotionally mature than any man she’s met before—says he wants her. Forever. Except, Burke isn’t who he claims to be. And interspersed letters to his therapist reveal the truth: he’s happily married, and using Skye for his own, deceptive ends. In a third perspective, set thirty years earlier, a scrappy seventeen-year-old named Heather is determined to end things with Burke, a local bad boy, and make a better life for herself in New York City. But can her adolescent love stay firmly in her past—or will he find his way into her future? On a collision course she doesn’t see coming, Skye throws herself into wedding planning, as Burke’s scheme grows ever more twisted. But of course, even the best laid plans can go astray. And just when you think you know where this story is going, you’ll discover that there’s more than one way to spin the truth.

Drawing from the latest brain research--morphological, physiological, chemical and genetic--and placing these findings in the context of psychology, philosophy, art and literature, a prominent microbiologist illuminates the evolution of the brain and translates what new developments in neuroscience may predict for the future of humanity.