Turning Toward Philosophy

Acknowledging the powerful impact that Plato's dialogues have had on readers, Jill Gordon shows how the literary techniques Plato used function philosophically to engage readers in doing philosophy and attracting them toward the philosophical life. The picture of philosophical activity emerging from the dialogues, as thus interpreted, is a complex process involving vision, insight, and emotion basic to the human condition rather than a resort to pure reason as an escape from it. Since the literary features of Plato's writing are what draw the reader into philosophy, the book becomes an argument for the union of philosophy and literature--and against their disciplinary bifurcation--in the dialogues. Gordon construes the relationship of Plato's text to its audience as an analogue of Socrates' relationship with his interlocutors in the dialogues, seeing both as fundamentally dialectic. On this insight she builds her detailed analysis of specific literary devices in chapters on dramatic form, character development, irony, and image-making (which includes myth, metaphor, and analogy). In this way Gordon views Plato as not at all the enemy of the poets and image-makers that previous interpreters have depicted. Rather, Gordon concludes that Plato understands the power of words and images quite well. Since they, and not logico-deductive argumentation, are the appropriate means for engaging human beings, he uses them to great effect and with a sensitive understanding of human psychology, wary of their possible corrupting influences but ultimately willing to harness their power for philosophical ends.

One of the few works to apply features of contemporary philosophy to the interpretation of ancient Greek texts, Turning analyzes the representation of persuasion in pre-Platonic texts, particularly Homer's Iliad. It demonstrates how essential persuasion was in almost every relation between mortals and between mortals and gods in early Greek texts. While being reduced to a mere psychological phenomenon by later Greek philosophy - reduced to the practice and study of rhetoric - persuasion was, for the early Greeks, a pre-ontological "force" associated with a turning toward presence. Michael Naas's work approaches the "critique of presence" in that it tries to articulate a notion - persuasion, turning - that cannot be squarely located within metaphysics.

Cristina Lafont draws upon Hilary Putnam's work in particular to criticize the linguistic idealism and relativism of the German tradition, which she traces back to the assumption that meaning determines reference.

First published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The origins of early German Romanticism and the philosophical contributions of the movement’s most important philosopher.

In this book, Jerome Carroll draws on the epistemological, ontological, and methodological aspects and implications of anthropological holism to read the philosophical significance of classical twentieth century anthropology through the lens of eighteenth century writings on anthropology.

The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Social Science is an outstanding guide to the major themes, movements, debates, and topics in the philosophy of social science. It includes thirty-seven newly written chapters, by many of the leading scholars in the field, as well as a comprehensive introduction by the editors. Insofar as possible, the material in this volume is presented in accessible language, with an eye toward undergraduate and graduate students who may be coming to some of this material for the first time. Scholars too will appreciate this clarity, along with the chance to read about the latest advances in the discipline. The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Social Science is broken up into four parts. Historical and Philosophical Context Concepts Debates Individual Sciences Edited by two of the leading scholars in the discipline, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the philosophy of social science, and its many areas of connection and overlap with key debates in the philosophy of science.

An ambitious and radically original reading of philosopher Francis Bacon. Comprehensive in its ambitions and meticulous in its approach, The Political Philosophy of Francis Bacon is a new and unique interpretation of one of early modernity’s more important thinkers. Whereas recent works on Bacon tend to confine themselves either to interpreting his historical context or to considering the founder of Baconianism from the perspective of one work in particular or the history of science in general, Tom van Malssen argues, through detailed and provocative interpretations of a number of Baconian writings, that the unity of Bacon’s thought can only be revealed if these writings are read in historical and philosophical conjunction as well as on the assumption that they are all somehow part of the whole of Bacon’s political philosophy. In addition to restoring Bacon to the pantheon of great philosophers, van Malssen demonstrates that a proper understanding of Bacon’s political philosophy contributes significantly to our understanding of the nature of philanthropic science, the modern project, and ultimately ourselves. “This book will become an enduring pillar of our understanding of Bacon’s philosophy. The scholarship and mastery of the historical sources, both philosophic and Biblical, are brilliant.” — Jerry Weinberger, author of Science, Faith, and Politics: Francis Bacon and the Utopian Roots of the Modern Age: A Commentary on Bacon’s Advancement of Learning “The scholarship of Bacon in this book is masterful. It should transform and deepen the field, the ‘field’ being the nature and history of the philosophic life. This is arguably the most thoughtful, penetrating, and ultimately revealing book on Bacon ever written.” — Svetozar Minkov, author of Francis Bacon’s “Inquiry Touching Human Nature”: Virtue, Philosophy, and the Relief of Man’s Estate