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The philosophical school of thought known as pragmatism focuses on the mind and thoughts as tools for rational decision-making. This concept proved to be enormously influential throughout the twentieth century. In this concise volume, Murray presents a thorough discussion of pragmatism and the ideas underpinning it.

In this fascinating autobiography from one of the foremost geniuses of twentieth-century physics, Max Planck tells the story of his life, his aims, and his thinking. Published posthumously, the papers in this volume were written for the general reader and make accessible Planck's scientific theories as well as his philosophical ideals, including his thoughts on ethics and morals.

'A delightful book … I should like to have written it myself.'— Bertrand RussellFirst published in 1936, this first full-length presentation in English of the Logical Positivism of Carnap, Neurath, and others has gone through many printings to become a classic of thought and communication. It not only surveys one of the most important areas of modern thought; it also shows the confusion that arises from imperfect understanding of the uses of language. A first-rate antidote for fuzzy thought and muddled writing, this remarkable book has helped philosophers, writers, speakers, teachers, students, and general readers alike.Mr. Ayers sets up specific tests by which you can easily evaluate statements of ideas. You will also learn how to distinguish ideas that cannot be verified by experience — those expressing religious, moral, or aesthetic experience, those expounding theological or metaphysical doctrine, and those dealing with a priori truth. The basic thesis of this work is that philosophy should not squander its energies upon the unknowable, but should perform its proper function in criticism and analysis.

Includes index.

Philosophers have often bluntly said, and more often tacitly assumed that careful and reasonable men will confine themselves to two very rigid ways of talking. Vile must either show that what we say is a theorem deducible from assumed axioms and postulates, or we must show that what we say is made probable by evidence. This book is at heart an attack upon the idea that rationality requires any such straitjacket, and it repudiates the dichotomy between'analytic'philosophy and philosophy “in the grand tradition.” Rationality is here conceived as a subtle and complex temper of deciding, most needed precisely where what we have to say cannot be stuffed into the two narrow pigeonholes in question.Originally published in 1957.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This is an enlarged, revised edition of the Paul Carus lecturers which John Dewey delivered in 1925. It covers Dewey's basic formulation of the problem of knowledge, with both a full discussion of theories and resolutions propounded by other systems, and a detailing of Dewey's own concepts upon the relationship of the external world, the minds, and knowledge.Starting with a thorough examination of philosophical method, Dewey examines the interrelationship of experience and nature, and upon the basis of empirical naturalism analyzes experience, the formulation of law, the role of language and social factors in knowledge, the nature of mind, and the final interrelation of mind and matter. Dewey, as in his other mature philosophy, attempts to replace the traditional separation of nature and experience with the idea of continuity, using the traditional separation of nature and experience with the idea of continuity, using the concept of language as the bridge.Dewey's treatment of central problems in philosophy and philosophy of science is profound, yet extremely easy to follow. His range of subject matter is very wide, from the anthropology of Malinowski to gravity, evolution, and the role of art, and his insights are clear and valuable. Scientists, philosophers of science, philosophers, and students of American history of thought will all find this one of the most profitable works by a great 20th-century thinker.

For at least two millennia before the advent of the Spaniards in 1519, there was a flourishing civilization in central Mexico. During that long span of time a cultural evolution took place which saw a high development of the arts and literature, the formulation of complex religious doctrines, systems of education, and diverse political and social organization.The rich documentation concerning these people, commonly called Aztecs, includes, in addition to a few codices written before the Conquest, thousands of folios in the Nahuatl or Aztec language written by natives after the Conquest. Adapting the Latin alphabet, which they had been taught by the missionary friars, to their native tongue, they recorded poems, chronicles, and traditions.The fundamental concepts of ancient Mexico presented and examined in this book have been taken from more than ninety original Aztec documents. They concern the origin of the universe and of life, conjectures on the mystery of God, the possibility of comprehending things beyond the realm of experience, life after death, and the meaning of education, history, and art. The philosophy of the Nahuatl wise men, which probably stemmed from the ancient doctrines and traditions of the Teotihuacans and Toltecs, quite often reveals profound intuition and in some instances is remarkably “modern.”This English edition is not a direct translation of the original Spanish, but an adaptation and rewriting of the text for the English-speaking reader.

Scientific Uncertainty and Information focuses on the validation of theories developed in physics, chemistry, biology, and other fields of science. The book first elaborates on thermodynamics, statistics, and information and the importance of scientific laws. Discussions focus on the importance and value of theories, empirical and theoretical laws, scientific laws and negentropy, principles of thermodynamics, entropy and value, negentropy, and energy degradation, and thermodynamics and information theory. The text then ponders on mathematical theorems and physical theories, imagination and invention in a theory, and causality and determinism. The manuscript underscores the weaknesses and limitations of mechanics and Poincare and the shortcomings of the Hamilton-Jacobi method for classical or quantized mechanics. Topics include the discussion of a simple example with two variables; degeneracy conditions and the possibility of finding a Hamilton-Jacobi transformation function; approximations for nondegenerate systems; methods of analytical dynamics for separated variables; and the objective world and the problem of determinism. The publication is a dependable reference for researchers interested in the validation of theories in science.

A collection of essays by Jean-Paul Sartre that touch upon the subject of existentialism by looking at aesthetics, emotions, writing, phenomenology, and perception The Philosophy of Existentialism collects representative essays on Jean-Paul Sartre's pioneering subject: existentialism. Beginning with a thoughtful introduction by fellow French philosopher Jean Wahl, this worklooks at existentialism through several lenses, exploring topics such as the emotions, imagination, nothingness, freedom, responsibility, and the desire to be God. By providing exposition on a variety of subjects, The Philosophy of Existentialism is a valuable introduction to Sartre's ideas.

Dialogues on Fundamental Questions of Science and Philosophy presents a compilation of dialogues concerning the basic questions of science and philosophy. This book discusses the relationship between philosophy and science. Organized into two parts encompassing 10 chapters, this book begins with an argument that reality can be recognized objectively, but not that there is a conflict between science and faith. This text then examines the invalidity of the causality principle in the microworld of the elementary particle and by the lack of individual identity of the particles. Other chapters consider the argument that philosophy should also make use of scientific methods. This book discusses as well the extended version of the biogenetical law of Haeckel, which is also valid for the progress of the human perceptive faculty. The final chapter deals with the argument that the idea of good as a tenet for practical actions is religious in character. This book is a valuable resource for readers who are interested in the fields of science and philosophy.

The intellectual diary of one of the greatest modern metaphysicians. Covers April 15, 1984 through January 18, 1986.Philosophy in Process, Volume 10, continues the publication of the working journals, the intellectual diary of one of the greatest modern metaphysicians. It presents the unique opportunity to experience him at work, thinking critically about his past writings and breaking ground in the creation of new works.Paul Weiss, Heffer Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, added to his impressive list of published books with the publication in 1986 of his work on political philosophy, Toward a Perfected State, also published by SUNY Press.

Philosophy in Process, Volume 7, Part II continues the publication of the working journals, the intellectual diary of one of the greatest modern metaphysicians. It represents the unique opportunity to experience him at work, thinking critically about his past writings and breaking ground in the creation of new works.Paul Weiss is the Heffer Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America. He has published more than twenty books. His Philosophy in Process, Volume 8, is also published by SUNY Press.

Philosophy in Process, Volume 8, continues the publication of the working journals, the intellectual diary of one of the greatest modern metaphysicians. It presents the unique opportunity to experience him at work, thinking critically about his past writings and breaking ground in the creation of new works.Paul Weiss is the Heffer Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America. He has published over twenty books, the most recent of which is Privacy.

Philosophy in Process, Volume 9, continues the publication of the working journals, the intellectual diary of one of the greatest modern metaphysicians. It presents the unique opportunity to experience him at work, thinking critically about his past writings and breaking new ground in the creation of new works.Paul Weiss is Heffer Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, his Philosophy in Process, Volume 7, Part 2, and Philosophy in Process, Volume 8, are also published by the State University of New York Press.

The first scholarly examination in any language of the historical development and traditional method of koan study in Zen Buddhism. Foreword by Ruth Fuller Sasaki; Index; ink drawings by Hakuin Ekaku.A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.

A comprehensive collection of writings by the legendary philosopher, whose sweeping body of work influenced our ideas about psychology, religion, free will, and pragmatism.In his introduction to this collection, John McDermott presents James's thinking in all its manifestations, stressing the importance of radical empiricism and placing into perspective the doctrines of pragmatism and the will to believe. The critical periods of James's life are highlighted to illuminate the development of his philosophical and psychological thought. The anthology features representative selections from The Principles of Psychology, The Will to Believe, and The Variety of Religious Experience in addition to the complete Essays in Radical Empiricism and A Pluralistic Universe. The original 1907 edition of Pragmatism is included, as well as classic selections from all of James's other major works. Of particular significance for James scholarship is the supplemented version of Ralph Barton Perry's Annotated Bibliography of the Writings of William James.

In what sense does time exist? Is it an objective feature of the external world? Or is its real nature dependent on the way man experiences it? Has modern science brought us closer to the answer to St. Augustine's exasperated outcry,'What, then, is time?'? Ever since Aristotle, thinkers have been struggling with this most confounding and elusive of philosophical questions. How long does the present moment last? Can we make statements about the future that are clearly true or clearly false? And if so, must we be fatalists? This volume presents twenty-three discussions of the problem of time. A section on classical and modern attempts at definition is followed by four groups of essays drawn largely from contemporary philosophy, each preface with an introduction by the editor. First, in a chapter entitled'The Static versus the Dynamic Temporal', four philosophers advance solutions to McTaggart's famous proof of time's unreality. In the next two sections, the discussion turns to the meaning of the'open future'and to the much-debated nature of'human time'. Finally, modern science and philosophy tackle Zeno's celebrated paradoxes. The essays by Adolf Gr�nbaum, Nicholas Rescher, and William Barrett are published for the first time in this volume.