From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis / Edition 1

by Frank Jackson

Overview

Frank Jackson champions the cause of conceptual analysis as central to philosophical inquiry. In recent years conceptual analysis has been undervalued and widely misunderstood, suggests Jackson. He argues that such analysis is mistakenly clouded in mystery, preventing a whole range of important questions from being productively addressed. He anchors his argument in discussions of specific philosophical issues, starting with the metaphysical doctrine of physicalism and moving on, via free will, meaning, personal identity, motion, and change, to ethics and the philosophy of color. In this way the book not only offers a methodological program for philosophy, but also casts new light on some much-debated problems and their interrelations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198250616
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/11/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.44(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.42(d)

About the Author

Frank Jackson is Professor of Philosophy in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University.

Table of Contents

1. Serious metaphysics and supervenience
2. The role of conceptual analysis
3. Conceptual analysis and metaphysical necessity
4. The primary-quality view of colour
5. The location problem for ethics: moral properties and moral content
6. Analytical descriptivism
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"[A] brilliant exposition and defense of the role of conceptual analysis in serious metaphysics....This excellent book deserves a spot in every academic library."—Choice

From the Publisher