Central Works of Philosophy v5

Central Works of Philosophy is a major multi-volume collection of essays on the core texts of the Western philosophical tradition. From Plato's Republic to the present day, the five volumes range over 2,500 years of philosophical writing covering the best, most representative, and most influential work of some of our greatest philosophers. Each essay has been specially commissioned and provides an overview of the work, clear and authoritative exposition of its central ideas, and an assessment of the work's importance. Together these books provide an unrivaled companion for studying and reading philosophy, one that introduces the reader to the masterpieces of the western philosophical canon. This volume covers the central texts in the history of analytic philosophy from Quine's Word and Object (1960) to the present day. The texts range over political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics and the philosophies of language, mind and logic and represent some of the most important philosophical work of the last forty years. Students and non-specialists who may find the technicality of some of the texts forbidding will welcome the clarity of exposition and exegesis that the essays provide. Taken together the essays provide both a map and compass for the current philosophical landscape and will prove a valuable resource not only for undergraduate and postgraduate philosophy students but for teachers and researchers in allied disciplines who need an understanding of the preoccupations of contemporary philosophy.

John Shand

Contributors Preface Introduction: The Twentieth Century: Quine and After John Shand 1. W. V. Quine: Word and Object Gary Kemp 2. P. F. Strawson: Individuals Paul Snowdon 3. John Rawls: A Theory of Justice Anthony Laden 4. Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State and Utopia Peter Vallentyne 5. Michael Dummett: Truth and Other Enigmas Berhnard Weiss 6. Richard Rorty: Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature Alan Malachowski 7. Donald Davidson: Essays on Actions and Events Kirk Ludwig 8. Saul Kripke: Naming and Necessity John P. Burgess 9. Hilary Putnam: Reason, Truth and History Peter Clark 10. Bernard Williams: Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy A. W. Moore 11. Thomas Nagel: The View From Nowhere Anita Avramides 12. David Lewis: On the Plurality of Worlds Phillip Bricker 13. Charles Taylor: Sources of the Self Ruth Abbey 14. John McDowell: Mind and World Tim Thornton Index