Philosophical Problems Today – serie

Philosophical Problems Today is a new series of publications from the Institut International de Philosophie. lt follows upon Contemporary Philosophy, a series presenting philosophical research in various world cultures and so far published in seven volumes: Vols. 1-4 on European Philosophy, Vol. 5 on African Philosophy, Vol. 6 on Medieval Philosophy (Part 1 and 2) and Vol. 7 on Asian Philosophy (appeared in 1993). A further volume, dealing with the Philosophy of South America, is still in prepa­ ration (to appear in 1994/95). The new series is based on a different concept. Bach volume consists as a rule of five articles. The articles are extensive discussions of topical philosophical problems and offer always some original contributions. The articles in each volume repre­ sent different philosophical traditions and cultures and may thus contribute to crosscultural communication. Volume 1 in the new series contains articles on standard problems in European and American philosophy. Quine writes on truth and discusses various difficulties connected with the clear definition of the correspondence theory of truth. What are true and false, are propositions. Part of the difficulty stems from the ambiguity of "proposition". Some think that the word refers to certain types of sentences, others that it rather refers to the meaning of such sentences. Another major difficulty is due to the fact that the world, being unique, may be variously grasped.

The articles in this volume deal with problems pervading most philosophical traditions, as well as with the future of philosophy. Some philosophers are quite pessimistic, thinking that philosophy - especially professional philosophy in academic institutions - doesn't seem to make much progress and has isolated itself from society at large. Thoughts of a possible end of philosophy among some philosophers appear to have at least three sources: the disillusionment about the present outcome of analytical philosophy, the impossibility of fulfilling the dream of finding an unquestionable foundation for knowledge, and connected with this, the end of the philosophy of Being. Most philosophers however, think that the future of their subject has never been richer or more promising, and that it is definitely too early to introduce "funeral rites". We are reminded that philosophy should not forget one of its traditional tasks: to contribute to the education of the public by providing values according to which people can live. Philosophy of logic and language, and of meaning and communication are central to this volume.The discussion of these issues involves analytical approaches, including semantics and semiotics, philosophy of science, mathematical logic, phenomenology, hermeneutics and some aspects of philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. Philosophy of the Absolute also belongs to this broad repertoire of philosophical problems and disciplines. A number of problems and viewpoints derive from the metaphysical system; any relativistic view on ethical values, for instance, makes sense in relation to some absolute. Metaphysical system building may have come to an end, but after all it belongs to philosophy to remind us of our past.

In this book philosophers try to answer the following question: What is globalization and what does "globe" or "world" (monde) signify? Rémi Brague returns to the Greek idea of the cosmos in order to track the worldhood (mondanéité) of the world, that is, the process by which the idea of the world is formed. Don Ihde shows how a world has developed, in which technologies are no longer considered neutral means serving the ends of human action, but become the very means by which people exist in the world. Vittorio Mathieu describes the economical world at two levels – that of the individual and that of society. Tomonobu Imamichi analyses the capacity of aesthetic experience to disclose a world other than the world of technological efficiency. Francisco Miró Quesada C. emphasises that the great political questions are not solvable without worldviews that express value systems. David Rasmussen describes sensus communis as a cosmopolitan concept, which founds a political globalization of the world. And Peter Kemp attempts to grasp the meaning of that globalization upon which the destiny of our planet depends.

Philosophical Problems Today is a new series of publications from the Institut International de Philosophie. lt follows upon Contemporary Philosophy, a series presenting philosophical research in various world cultures and so far published in seven volumes: Vols. 1-4 on European Philosophy, Vol. 5 on African Philosophy, Vol. 6 on Medieval Philosophy (Part 1 and 2) and Vol. 7 on Asian Philosophy (appeared in 1993). A further volume, dealing with the Philosophy of South America, is still in prepa­ ration (to appear in 1994/95). The new series is based on a different concept. Bach volume consists as a rule of five articles. The articles are extensive discussions of topical philosophical problems and offer always some original contributions. The articles in each volume repre­ sent different philosophical traditions and cultures and may thus contribute to crosscultural communication. Volume 1 in the new series contains articles on standard problems in European and American philosophy. Quine writes on truth and discusses various difficulties connected with the clear definition of the correspondence theory of truth. What are true and false, are propositions. Part of the difficulty stems from the ambiguity of "proposition". Some think that the word refers to certain types of sentences, others that it rather refers to the meaning of such sentences. Another major difficulty is due to the fact that the world, being unique, may be variously grasped.

Philosophy of logic and language, and of meaning and communication are central to this volume. The discussion of these issues involves analytical approaches, including semantics and semiotics, philosophy of science, mathematical logic, phenomenology, hermeneutics and some aspects of philosophical anthropology and aesthetics. Philosophy of the Absolute also belongs to this broad repertoire of philosophical problems and disciplines. A number of problems and viewpoints derive from the metaphysical system; any relativistic view on ethical values, for instance, makes sense in relation to some absolute. Metaphysical system building may have come to an end, but after all it belongs to philosophy to remind us of our past.