This is a major, wide-ranging history of analytic philosophy since 1900, told by one of the tradition's leading contemporary figures. The first volume takes the story from 1900 to mid-century. The second brings the history up to date. As Scott Soames tells it, the story of analytic philosophy is one of great but uneven progress, with leading thinkers making important advances toward solving the tradition's core problems. Though no broad philosophical position ever achieved lasting dominance, Soames argues that ...
This is a major, wide-ranging history of analytic philosophy since 1900, told by one of the tradition's leading contemporary figures. The first volume takes the story from 1900 to mid-century. The second brings the history up to date. As Scott Soames tells it, the story of analytic philosophy is one of great but uneven progress, with leading thinkers making important advances toward solving the tradition's core problems. Though no broad philosophical position ever achieved lasting dominance, Soames argues that two methodological developments have, over time, remade the philosophical landscape. These are (1) analytic philosophers' hard-won success in understanding, and distinguishing the notions of logical truth, a priori truth, and necessary truth, and (2) gradual acceptance of the idea that philosophical speculation must be grounded in sound prephilosophical thought. Though Soames views this history in a positive light, he also illustrates the difficulties, false starts, and disappointments endured along the way. As he engages with the work of his predecessors and contemporaries -- from Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein to Donald Davidson and Saul Kripke -- he seeks to highlight their accomplishments while also pinpointing their shortcomings, especially where their perspectives were limited by an incomplete grasp of matters that have now become clear. Soames himself has been at the center of some of the tradition's most important debates, and throughout writes with exceptional ease about its often complex ideas. His gift for clear exposition makes the history as accessible to advanced undergraduates as it will be important to scholars. Despite its centrality to philosophy in the English-speaking world, the analytic tradition in philosophy has had very few synthetic histories. This will be the benchmark against which all future accounts will be measured.
Journal of the History of Philosophy
- A.P. Martinich
I know of no sustained philosophical work that is as clear, deep, and incisive as these two volumes. There are several other excellent books on twentieth-century analytic philosophy, but Soames's is likely to become the standard. His ability to reconstruct arguments, to fill in inchoate arguments, and to detect what may have motivated or underlain some philosopher's position is amazing. . . . These are superb volumes by a superb philosopher.
Virginia Quarterly Review
- Charles T. Mathewes
The writing and the organization are admirably clear and straightforward, exhibiting many of the virtues Soames claims for the tradition as a whole. . . . It is hard to imagine another work being produced which would deliver so much solid information on this dense and difficult subject matter in such easy form.
Boston Review
- Alex Byrne and Ned Hall
Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century is a marvelous introduction to analytic philosophy. The two volumes unfold as a series of studies of some of the most important and influential philosophers in the analytic tradition. . . . It is a philosopher's history of analytic philosophy, with a careful and critical assessment of ideas about truth, morality, logic, mind, and meaning.
Journal of the History of Philosophy
- A. P. Martinich
I know of no sustained philosophical work that is as clear, deep, and incisive as these two volumes. There are several other excellent books on twentieth-century analytic philosophy, but Soames's is likely to become the standard. His ability to reconstruct arguments, to fill in inchoate arguments, and to detect what may have motivated or underlain some philosopher's position is amazing. . . . These are superb volumes by a superb philosopher.
Journal of the History of Philosophy
I know of no sustained philosophical work that is as clear, deep, and incisive as these two volumes. There are several other excellent books on twentieth-century analytic philosophy, but Soames's is likely to become the standard. His ability to reconstruct arguments, to fill in inchoate arguments, and to detect what may have motivated or underlain some philosopher's position is amazing. . . . These are superb volumes by a superb philosopher.
— A. P. Martinich
Virginia Quarterly Review
The writing and the organization are admirably clear and straightforward, exhibiting many of the virtues Soames claims for the tradition as a whole. . . . It is hard to imagine another work being produced which would deliver so much solid information on this dense and difficult subject matter in such easy form.
— Charles T. Mathewes
Choice
Because of its combination of sympathetic, illuminating exposition of the central doctrines and arguments of the analytic tradition and the hard-nosed critical evaluation to which they are subjected, this will surely be the standard history of analytic philosophy for many years to come.
Boston Review
Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century is a marvelous introduction to analytic philosophy. The two volumes unfold as a series of studies of some of the most important and influential philosophers in the analytic tradition. . . . It is a philosopher's history of analytic philosophy, with a careful and critical assessment of ideas about truth, morality, logic, mind, and meaning.
— Alex Byrne and Ned Hall
Scott Soames is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. His other books include "Reference and Description" (Princeton), "Beyond Rigidity", and "Understanding Truth".
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction to the Two Volumes xi
PART ONE:
G. E. MOORE ON ETHICS, EPISTEMOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS 1
CHAPTER 1
Common Sense and Philosophical Analysis 3
CHAPTER 2
Moore on Skepticism, Perception, and Knowledge 12
CHAPTER 3
Moore on Goodness and the Foundations of Ethics 34
CHAPTER 4
The Legacies and Lost Opportunities of Moore's Ethics 71
Suggested Further Reading 89
PART TWO:
BERTRAND RUSSELL ON LOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS 91
CHAPTER 5
Logical Form, Grammatical Form, and the Theory of Descriptions 93
CHAPTER 6
Logic and Mathematics: The Logicist Reduction 132
CHAPTER 7
Logical Constructions and the External World 165
CHAPTER 8
Russell's Logical Atomism 182
Suggested Further Reading 194
PART THREE: LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN'S TRACTATUS 195
CHAPTER 9
The Metaphysics of the Tractatus 197
CHAPTER 10
Meaning, Truth, and Logic in the Tractatus 214
CHAPTER 11
The Tractarian Test of Intelligibility and Its Consequences 234
Suggested Further Reading 254
PART FOUR: LOGICAL POSITIVISM, EMOTIVISM, AND ETHICS 255
CHAPTER 12
The Logical Positivists on Necessity and Apriori Knowledge 257
CHAPTER 13
The Rise and Fall of the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning 271
CHAPTER 14
Emotivism and Its Critics 300
CHAPTER 15
Normative Ethics in the Era of Emotivism: The Anticonsequentialism of Sir David Ross 320
Suggested Further Reading 346
PART FIVE: THE POST-POSITIVIST PERSPECTIVE OF THE EARLY W. V. QUINE 349
CHAPTER 16
The Analytic and the Synthetic, the Necessary and the Possible, the Apriori and the Aposteriori 351
CHAPTER 17
Meaning and Holistic Verificationism 378
Suggested Further Reading 406
Index 409
Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.
Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13
We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.
What to exclude from your review:
Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.
Reviews should not contain any of the following:
- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation
Reminder:
- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend
Create a Pen Name
Welcome, penname
You have successfully created your Pen Name. Start enjoying the benefits of the BN.com Community today.
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Overview