Randall E. Auxier - Böcker

The Quantum of Explanation advances a bold new theory of how explanation ought to be understood in philosophical and cosmological inquiries. Using a complete interpretation of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophical and mathematical writings and an interpretive structure that is essentially new, Auxier and Herstein argue that Whitehead has never been properly understood, nor has the depth and breadth of his contribution to the human search for knowledge been assimilated by his successors. This important book effectively applies Whitehead’s philosophy to problems in the interpretation of science, empirical knowledge, and nature. It develops a new account of philosophical naturalism that will contribute to the current naturalism debate in both Analytic and Continental philosophy. Auxier and Herstein also draw attention to some of the most important differences between the process theology tradition and Whitehead’s thought, arguing in favor of a Whiteheadian naturalism that is more or less independent of theological concerns. This book offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to Whitehead’s philosophy and is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in American philosophy, the philosophy of mathematics and physics, and issues associated with naturalism, explanation and radical empiricism.

One of the world’s most influential logicians, Jaakko Hintikka is a leading figure on the international philosophical scene. Here, he responds to his critics. The 27 critical and descriptive essays in this book, written by important scholars from a variety of fields, challenge Hintikka’s innovations in philosophy, logic, and linguistics. His replies, and the essays themselves, all previously unpublished, form a lively, provocative exchange of ideas. Also included is an intellectual autobiography and a complete bibliography of Hintikka's writings.

One of the world’s most influential logicians, Jaakko Hintikka is a leading figure on the international philosophical scene. Here, he responds to his critics. The 27 critical and descriptive essays in this book, written by important scholars from a variety of fields, challenge Hintikka’s innovations in philosophy, logic, and linguistics. His replies, and the essays themselves, all previously unpublished, form a lively, provocative exchange of ideas. Also included is an intellectual autobiography and a complete bibliography of Hintikka's writings.

"Seventeen curious, well-tuned writers (they’re fans, too) turn their philosophical attention to Tom Petty in this intellectually rigorous and wildly fun ‘little box set of big ideas’. In his hits, deep cuts, and videos they find complexity, ideas, and plenty of questions—plus some answers—about the human condition. I need to know, Petty once sang. These writers are really listening.”—JOE BONOMO, author of Field Recordings from the Inside (2017) and editor of Conversations with Greil Marcus (2012)“A great song has worlds inside of it. And Tom Petty wrote a lot of them. But too often we don’t stop to explore, question, consider, knock on a few of the doors that appear down a great song’s corridors. In this collection, some thoughtful writers have come together to show us how they did it. It stands as a testament both to the strength of Petty’s songwriting and record-making and the possibilities that remain as regards writing about music.”—WARREN ZANES, author of Petty: The Biography (2015)“Maybe because he simply made it all look easy, Tom Petty never received the unanimous critical glory bestowed upon more obvious geniuses. But now that his career is complete, the world is gradually awakening to what his fans have known all along: Tom was plugged directly into the original juice of rock’n’roll, injecting that authenticity into everything he ever touched. This collection of deeply thoughtful, dimensional chapters goes a long way in setting the record straight. In each, the author bears witness to the profound impact of Tom's music on our lives, and also our thoughts.”—PAUL ZOLLO, author of Conversations with Tom Petty“Tom Petty would have hated this book. And that’s why it’s necessary—to give new context to songs and an oeuvre that defied his own explanation.”—NEIL STRAUSS, contributing editor, Rolling Stone“This is a fun appraisal of Tom Petty’s masterful musical works as viewed through the framework of both classical and modern philosophical theory. Tom Petty and Philosophy is recommended for both the fan and the student of rock.”—NICK THOMAS, author of Tom Petty: An American Rock and Roll Story (2014)“Just as no single musical genre easily ensnares Petty’s musical catalogue, this book is—thankfully—not easily pigeonholed. It spans a wide range of topics. From whether Tom Petty was a feminist to whether the album Echo displays a situation of distress in Nietzsche’s sense, there’s something here for all Petty fans to ruminate and debate for years to come.”—CLAY CALVERT, University of Florida professor teaching “Tom Petty 101”For the first time, serious thinkers explore the work of this towering genius of rock music. For fans of Tom Petty, this volume is an eye-opener, with fourteen music-savvy philosophers looking at different facets of Petty’s artistic contribution. They examine not only Tom Petty’s thoughts but also the thoughts we have while we listen. The authors, all Petty fans, come from every philosophical viewpoint: classical, analytic, postmodernist, phenomenological, and Nietzschean.Tom Petty’s body of work exists on a continuum between Folk and Rock, between New Wave and Americana, between Southern simplicity and West Coast chic. There is the legacy left to his main backing band, the Heartbreakers, but also bookended by Mudcrutch and his collaborations with his elders, such as Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash.Tom Petty’s songs hook and they captivate, but they are often profound in their understatement, their stark minimalism. His insight into the human condition conveys a powerful philosophical anthropology with a metaphysics of tragedy, gravity, and levity.Tom Petty’s ethics focuses on dilemmas of the outcast, downtrodden, and heartbroken with a view to the fallen and the sinful as our redeemable antiheroes of the everyday.His political thinking is that of the artist, enlivened by Southern hostilities and Californian futilities, culminating in a personal ethic that puts duty to the fans first. Petty’s theory of knowledge is psychological and interpersonal, both deeply meditative and delightfully skeptical. The dialectic of love and hate, abuse and recovery, poverty and power, triumph and loss provide the genuine objects of knowledge.Above all, Petty’s songs are the confessions of a poetic mind interpreting a wounded soul. Petty lived his life the way he wrote and the way he played. It was grit, drive, and just enough finesse, to make things nice, where they need to be nice. On stage, he put the schau in Anschauung.Petty stood up to corporate assholes in a number of precedent-setting legal maneuvers and album concepts, risking his career and fortune, but never backing down. He was the center of a musical community that endured over four decades. His ability to cultivate new generations of listeners while connecting himself backward to the heroes of his own youth have made him universally respected by the widest range of music fans.

Professor Grene is the 29th subject in a series that includes Albert Einstein, John Dewey, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Bertrand Russell. This book includes photographs, 25 critical essays by Grene’s distinguished peers — and her biting replies. She is known for her work — and her controversial views — in several areas including the philosophy of law, anthropology, and biology.

Professor Grene is the subject of volume 29 in a series that has included Albert Einstein, John Dewey, Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell. Known for her work in several areas including the theory of knowledge, philosophical anthropology, aesthetics, ethics, the philosophy of law and the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology, explains her controversial views on a broad range of topics to be covered in the essays authored by the distinguished contributors.

For over 50 years, Sir Michael Dummett has been a major philosophical voice in a wide range of fields, including epistemology, ontology, and the philosophy of language. This comprehensive volume treats all of these subjects and more in detail. It contains Dummett’s intellectual autobiography, 27 previously unpublished critical and descriptive essays by famous scholars, a reply to each essay by Dummett, and a complete bibliography of his published works.

For over 50 years, Sir Michael Dummett has been a major philosophical voice in a wide range of fields, including epistemology, ontology, and the philosophy of language. This comprehensive volume treats all of these subjects and more in detail. It contains Dummett’s intellectual autobiography, 27 previously unpublished critical and descriptive essays by famous scholars, a reply to each essay by Dummett, and a complete bibliography of his published works.

Richard Rorty was a seminal figure in philosophy, transforming the discipline during the last quarter of the 20th century and setting it on a new path for the 21st. An early, implacable critic of the widespread preoccupation with questions of truth, representation, and the foundations of knowledge, Rorty promoted a new type of philosophical pragmatism with great persuasive power, and many have credited him with inspiring the renewed interest in the thought of classical American philosophy, especially his hero John Dewey. Always controversial, Rorty's books and essays were read as carefully by his critics as by his admirers. This book includes in its nearly 1,000 pages Rorty's intellectual autobiography, 29 previously unpublished critical and descriptive essays by famous scholars, Rorty's replies to most of them, and a complete bibliography of his published works. Since Rorty passed away in 2007, his contributions to this volume have a special importance as among his final writings.

Known as the working man's poet, the Boardwalk prophet, or simply, the Boss. If "love is a banquet at which we feed," Bruce Springsteen has provided much food for thought. In this collection of metaphysical probes, a gang of E-street philosophers will undress Bruce's deeper mysteries like irresistible Jersey girls. Can Springsteen settle the nature-nurture debate through his song "Born to Run"? What do the famous philosopher Ricuoer and Springsteen have in common in their depiction of time? These die-hard Springsteen fans, who just happen to be philosophers, compile an entertaining handbook to the field of Springsteen studies, covering topics like Springsteen's connection to Marx and the proletariat, Springsteen's concept of the soul, and his status as a poet.

From the bedtime story by L. Frank Baum to the classic 1939 film, no story has captured the imaginations of generations of children — and adults — like The Wizard of Oz. The story of Dorothy’s journey through Oz, the colorful characters, places, songs, and dialogue have permeated popular culture around the world. The contributors to this volume take a very close look at The Wizard of Oz and ask the tough questions about this wonderful tale. They wonder if someone can possess a virtue without knowing it, and if the realm of Oz was really the dream or if Kansas was the dream. Why does water melt the Wicked Witch of the West and why does Toto seem to know what the other characters can’t seem to figure out? The articles included tackle these compelling questions and more, encouraging readers to have discussions of their own.

Josiah Royce (1855--1916) has had a major influence on American intellectual life -- both popular movements and cutting-edge thought -- but his name often went unmentioned while his ideas marched forward. The leading American proponent of absolute idealism, Royce has come back into fashion in recent years. With several important new books appearing, the formation of a Josiah Royce Society, and the re-organization of the Royce papers at Harvard, the time is ripe for Time, Will, and Purpose. Randall Auxier delves into the primary texts written by Royce to retrieve the most poignant ideas, the ideas we need most in the present day, while he also offers a new framework for understanding the development of Royce's philosophy. Auxier responds to everything that has been written about Royce, both early and recent.

Arthur Danto is the Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University and the most influential philosopher of art in the last half century. As an art critic for The Nation for 25 years and frequent contributor to other widely read outlets such as the New York Review of Books, Danto also has become one of the most respected public intellectuals of his generation. He is the author of some two dozen important books, along with hundreds of articles and reviews which have been the center of both controversy and discussion. In this volume Danto offers his intellectual autobiography and responds to essays by 27 of the keenest critics of his thought from the worlds of philosophy and the arts. The book includes 16 pages of color art reproductions. Danto is the author dozens of books on art, philosophy, the philosophy of art, and art criticism. He is a rare philosopher who is also a public intellectual.

Hilary Putnam, who turned 88 in 2014, is one of the world's greatest living philosophers. He currently holds the position of Cogan University Professor Emeritus of Harvard. He has been called "one of the 20th century's true philosophic giants" (by Malcolm Thorndike Nicholson in Prospect magazine). He has been very influential in several different areas of philosophy: philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. This volume in the prestigious Library of Living Philosophers series contains 26 chapters original to this work, each written by a well-known philosopher, including the late Richard Rorty and the late Michael Dummett. The volume also includes Putnam's reply to each of the 26 critical and descriptive essays, which cover the broad range of Putnam's thought. They are organized thematically into the following parts: Philosophy and Mathematics, Logic and Language, Knowing and Being, Philosophy of Practice, and Elements of Pragmatism. Readers also appreciate the extensive intellectual autobiography.

The Philosophy of Umberto Eco stands out in the Library of Living Philosophers series as the volume on the most interdisciplinary scholar hitherto and probably the most widely translated. The Italian philosopher’s name and works are well known in the humanities, both his philosophical and literary works being translated into fifteen or more languages. Eco is a founder of modern semiotics and widely known for his work in the philosophy of language and aesthetics. He is also a leading figure in the emergence of postmodern literature, and is associated with cultural and mass communication studies. His writings cover topics such as advertising, television, and children’s literature as well as philosophical questions bearing on truth, reality, cognition, language, and literature. The critical essays in this volume cover the full range of this output.This book has wide appeal not only because of its interdisciplinary nature but also because of Eco’s famous “high and low” approach, which is deeply scholarly in conception and very accessible in outcome. The short essay “Why Philosophy?” included in the volume is exemplary in this regard: it will appeal to scholars for its wit and to high school students for its intelligibility.

Metaphysical Graffiti explores the philosophical themes prevalent in the music of the classic rock era. Each chapter is a detailed study of a classic rock performer or ensemble, applying insights from philosophers ancient and modern. It will appeal to an audience that was inspired by the music of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In the words of the author, “Philosophy is in this music and it is of this music and for this music.”The author is an accomplished professor of philosophy and also an accomplished musician, who plays in the folk rock group, Bone Dry River Band.Among the chapters included in this book “Frenzy” applies Plato and mystery religion to the Rolling Stones, “An Everlasting Kiss: The Seduction of Wendy” applies Vico to Bruce Springsteen, “Warm Impermanence” applies Danto and Andy Warhol to David Bowie, “Magic Pages and Mythic Plants” applies Cassirer to Led Zeppelin, “A Touch of Grey: Gratefully Dead?” applies Kant and Whitehead to the Grateful Dead, “Yesterday’s Tom Sawyers” applies Suzanne Langer to Rush, and “Dead Reckoning and Tacking the Winds of Fortune and Fate” applies Machiavelli to Jimmy Buffett.

In 1922 Charles Hartshorne, then an aspiring young philosopher, wrote to Edgar Sheffield Brightman, a preeminent philosopher of religion and one of the earliest members of the Boston School of Personalism. For twenty-three subsequent years, the two carried out an unusually rich and intensive correspondence, and, remarkably, almost every letter was preserved. They are presented here along with additional material that follows the philosophers' lives and interactions after 1945, when Brightman's ill health prevented him from continuing the correspondence. Hartshorne (1897-) has been called ""the world's greatest living metaphysician."" But when the correspondence began, he was just a graduate student, while Brightman (1884-1953) was already an influential philosopher and theologian. Over time, as Hartshorne gained prominence, the letters reveal first a relationship of equals and eventually a reversal of roles as the younger man began to influence his former mentor. Hartshorne's sustained critique of Brightman's epistemological and metaphysical position eventually led to important shifts in Brightman's views. In their introductory essays, editors Randall Auxier and Mark Davies place the correspondence in its intellectual context and address the relationship between personalism and process philosophy/theology in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and social philosophy. Theologians and philosophers in a wide range of specialties will welcome this record of an enduring intellectual friendship.

The Quantum of Explanation advances a bold new theory of how explanation ought to be understood in philosophical and cosmological inquiries. Using a complete interpretation of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophical and mathematical writings and an interpretive structure that is essentially new, Auxier and Herstein argue that Whitehead has never been properly understood, nor has the depth and breadth of his contribution to the human search for knowledge been assimilated by his successors. This important book effectively applies Whitehead’s philosophy to problems in the interpretation of science, empirical knowledge, and nature. It develops a new account of philosophical naturalism that will contribute to the current naturalism debate in both Analytic and Continental philosophy. Auxier and Herstein also draw attention to some of the most important differences between the process theology tradition and Whitehead’s thought, arguing in favor of a Whiteheadian naturalism that is more or less independent of theological concerns. This book offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to Whitehead’s philosophy and is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in American philosophy, the philosophy of mathematics and physics, and issues associated with naturalism, explanation and radical empiricism.

As Deep as It Gets: Movies and Metaphysics is a witty and light-hearted introduction to philosophy through a deep study of some well-known movies and TV shows: Pulp Fiction, South Park, The Princess Bride, The Wizard of Oz, Super 8, The Twilight Zone, House of Cards, Inception, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, His Dark Materials, Sergio Leone’s westerns, and Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.All the major branches of philosophy are covered, including aesthetics, political philosophy, metaphysics, and the theory of knowledge. The author’s approach is “Continental,” with some American idealism and process philosophy in support. The emphasis is on the primacy of time as a key to interpreting human experience. In that regard, existentialism, phenomenology, and process philosophy are better guides to thinking about time than the more popular approaches that depend on language analysis.Professor Randall E. Auxier says: “Philosophizing involves telling stories about life that are art, and making up stories that aren’t life but provide a contrast to it. I want readers to add to what I see, and to take up interpretations contrary to mine. A healthy discussion is good for everybody.”