Pascal Engel – författare

Despite his tragic death at the age of 26, Frank Ramsey (1903 - 1930) remains one of the most intriguing minds of the twentieth century. His thought had a profound influence on both Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, and many strands of contemporary analytic philosophy find their origin in Ramsey''s ideas. Frank Ramsey: Truth and Success provides a much-needed introduction to the work of this undervalued thinker, and makes an important and profound contribution to our understanding of Ramsey''s work and his place in twentieth century philosophy. It will be of interest to all students of logic, metaphysics and the history of philosophy.

Despite his tragic death at the age of 26, Frank Ramsey (1903 - 1930) remains one of the most intriguing minds of the twentieth century. His thought had a profound influence on both Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, and many strands of contemporary analytic philosophy find their origin in Ramsey''s ideas. Frank Ramsey: Truth and Success provides a much-needed introduction to the work of this undervalued thinker, and makes an important and profound contribution to our understanding of Ramsey''s work and his place in twentieth century philosophy. It will be of interest to all students of logic, metaphysics and the history of philosophy.

On parle beaucoup de société de l''information et du savoir, il y a des archéologies et des anthropologies du savoir et les sciences cognitives ne cessent de parler de la psychologie de la connaissance. Mais sait-on réellement ce que désigne la notion de savoir ? Qu''est-ce qui distingue le savoir de la croyance, et qu''est-ce qui fait la valeur de la connaissance ? Ces questions appartiennent traditionnellement à la philosophie depuis que les sceptiques ont mis en doute la définition classique de Platon : le savoir est la connaissance vraie justifiée. Ce livre entend répondre au scepticisme classique autant qu''au scepticisme contemporain. Il propose une réponse inspirée par la philosophie du sens commun et la philosophie analytique de la connaissance : il y a un ensemble de choses que nous savons mieux que n''importe quelle preuve philosophique du contraire. Cette analyse est défendue contre la plupart des conceptions philosophiques contemporaines du savoir, de la philosophie analytique aux conceptions historiciste et relativistes contemporaines.

Les noms propres ont-ils un sens ? Qu''est-ce qu''un énoncé d''identité ? En montrant que ces questions sont solidaires, et en proposant sa distinction entre le sens et la référence, Frege a soulevé des problèmes qui sont au centre de la philosophie analytique du langage et que ce livre aborde à travers une confrontation entre la « théorie classique » de la référence et la « nouvelle » théorie de la référence proposée par Kripke dans Naming and Necessity.

Should decisions be based on knowledge, defined—as Plato proposed—as true and justified beliefs? In a multicultural society there are frequently different and diverging views about what we know. Our choices are influenced by the alternatives we see, how they are described, and how we suppose that their consequences will affect us and our descendants. If we want to be able to predict preferences, we need to understand the importance of how the problems are presented and how our minds work.

The idea that the rational individual maximizes his or her expected utility when making a decision—derived from Frank Ramsey’s essay ‘Truth and probability’, published in 1931—is an important point of departure in this collection of essays. It comprises case studies of difficult decision-making when faced with challenges, such as nuclear strategy, the climate crisis and care of extremely preterm-born children, as well as perspectives on philosophical issues raised by making rational decisions.