Synopses & Reviews
Christopher Hookway presents a series of studies of themes from the work of the great American philosopher and pragmatist, Charles S. Peirce (1839-1913). These themes center on the question of how we are to investigate the world rationally. Hookway shows how Peirce's ideas about this continue to play an important role in contemporary philosophy.
Review
"Truth, Rationality and Pragmatism presents the fruits of Christopher Hookway's thinking about the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce since the publication of Peirce in 1985. Unlike the earlier work, this 'does not pretend to be a general introduction to Peirce's philosophy [but]...deals [instead] with a range of important and central issues in more detail than was possible in that volume.'"--Canadian Journal of Philosophy
"Whether or not you are interested in Charles Sanders Peirce you should read this book. For it is good for your soul to be exposed to such a brilliant exercise in the history of philosophy. Hookway combines a bulldog-like reading of the text, in which numerous aporias are brought to the fore, with a Houdini-like ability to escape from them. It takes someone who is a very good philosopher in his own right to accomplish this. The Peirce that emerges from his imaginative reconstruction and extension of the text is a very exciting philosopher, who has a lot to say to contemporaries."--Richard M. Gale, Philosophical Quarterly
Table of Contents
Introduction: Pragmatism and the Materials of Rational Self-Control
1. Belief, Confidence, and the Method of Science
2. Truth and the Convergence of Opinion
3. Truth and Correspondence
4. Truth and Reference: Peirce versus Royce
5. Vagueness, Logic, and Interpretation
6. Design and Chance: the Evolution of Peirce's Evolutionary Cosmology
7. Metaphysics, Science, and Self-Control
8. Common Sense, Pragmatism, and Rationality
9. Sentiment and Self-Control
10. Doubt: Affective States and the Regulation of Inquiry
11. On Reading God's Great Poem
12. Avoiding Circularity and Proving Pragmatism
References
Index