Nicholas Rescher is University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. A former president of the American Philosophical Association, he is an honorary member of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He has held visiting lectureship at Oxford, Constance, Salamanca, Munich, and Marburg. As the author of more than eighty works ranging over many areas of philosophy, he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize for Scholarship in 1984.

This new collection of reflections on contemporary philosophy and culture is remarkable for both its synoptic power and its breadth of vision. Rescher writes with clarity, historical wisdom, and thought-provoking insight. A delight to read.

• Part 1 IntroductionPart 2 On Philosophizing and MetaphilosophyChapter 3 The Rise and Fall of Analytic PhilosophyChapter 4 End-of-the-Century Philosophizing: A Return to Systems?Chapter 5 Who Has Won the Big Battles of Twentieth-Century Philosophy?Chapter 6 Perspectives on Nature in American ThoughtPart 7 On Values and Human AffairsChapter 8 Nomic Hierarchies and Problems of RelativismChapter 9 Is Reasoning about Values Viciously Circular?Chapter 10 Homo Optans: On the Human Condition and the Burden of ChoiceChapter 11 Risking Democracy: Some Reflections on Contemporary Problems of Political DecisionPart 12 BibliographyPart 13 Index