Metaphysical Perspectives

Nicholas Rescher is Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of 175 books, including Objectivity: The Obligations of Impersonal Reason (University of Notre Dame Press, 1997).

"Nicholas Rescher's encyclopedic knowledge of philosophy is on full display in this work. A broad sweep of metaphysical topics is covered, ranging from the principle of sufficient reason through consciousness to the question of why philosophy is ordinarily inexact. One of its virtues is that the clarity of writing makes most chapters accessible to a general readership while providing an intellectual challenge to academic philosophers." —Paul Humphreys, University of Virginia"Across questions of possibility, reality, consciousness, and value, Nicholas Rescher brings a full range of metaphysical topics together in a unified approach. To all of these questions he applies a unified vision of the character of philosophy as well: philosophy as literature, following wherever rationality leads, normative as well as descriptive, aimed at offering a guide to life. The result is comprehensive in both topic and technique, a masterful value-based vision from a true contemporary master." —Patrick Grim, Stony Brook University and University of Michigan"Nicholas Rescher's Metaphysical Perspectives is a magisterial work, in both depth and breadth. The proposed metaphysical theory is novel, though Leibnizean in spirit. It rests on axiological considerations, hence much of the book consists of discussion, brief but unfailingly erudite, of topics not usually regarded as strictly metaphysical. This is why an extended and highly interesting ethical theory is also proposed, succinctly but clearly and eloquently." —Panayot Butchvarov, professor emeritus, University of Iowa"Necessity, randomness, free will, consciousness, the transcendental, intelligent design, the improvability of the world: in Metaphysical Perspectives these and many other topics get fascinating treatment by America's finest philosopher. Particularly intriguing is Rescher's theory of why the cosmos exists." —John Leslie, professor emeritus, University of Guelph, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

• PrefaceIntroduction: On the Mission of Philosophy1. Ultimate Questions2. World Views3. Terminological Contextuality4. On Contingency and Necessity5. Randomness and Reason6. Issues of Self-Reference and Paradox7. Explanation and the Principle of Sufficient Reason8. Intelligent Design Revisited in the Light of Evolutionary Neo-Platonism9. What If Things Were Different?10. On the Improvability of the World11. Consciousness12. Control13. Free Will in the Light of Process Theory14. Personhood15. The Metaphysics of Moral Obligation16. Empathy, Shared Experience, and Other Minds17. Philosophy as an Inexact Science18. Philosophy's Involvement with Transcendental Issues19. Religious Variation and the Rationale of BeliefNotesBibliographyIndex of Names