By Scott Soames - Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: The Dawn of Analysis: The Dawn of Analysis v. 1

by Scott Soames

This is a major, wide-ranging history of analytic philosophy since 1900, told by one of the tradition's leading contemporary figures. The first volume takes the story from 1900 to mid-century. The second brings the history up to date.As Scott Soames tells it, the story of analytic philosophy is one of great but uneven progress, with leading thinkers making important advances toward solving the tradition's core problems. Though no broad philosophical position ever achieved lasting dominance, Soames argues that two methodological developments have, over time, remade the philosophical landscape. These are (1) analytic philosophers' hard-won success in understanding, and distinguishing the notions of logical truth, a priori truth, and necessary truth, and (2) gradual acceptance of the idea that philosophical speculation must be grounded in sound prephilosophical thought. Though Soames views this history in a positive light, he also illustrates the difficulties, false starts, and disappointments endured along the way. As he engages with the work of his predecessors and contemporaries--from Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein to Donald Davidson and Saul Kripke--he seeks to highlight their accomplishments while also pinpointing their shortcomings, especially where their perspectives were limited by an incomplete grasp of matters that have now become clear.Soames himself has been at the center of some of the tradition's most important debates, and throughout writes with exceptional ease about its often complex ideas. His gift for clear exposition makes the history as accessible to advanced undergraduates as it will be important to scholars. Despite its centrality to philosophy in the English-speaking world, the analytic tradition in philosophy has had very few synthetic histories. This will be the benchmark against which all future accounts will be measured.

Genres: Philosophy, Metaphysics, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Scott Soames is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California. He specializes in the philosophy of language and the history of analytic philosophy.

Reviews

[John Mcjohnnyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe Scott Soames may not be of this earth because he's clearly too intelligent to be human. Fortunately in this book and in volume 2 he uses prose that can be comprehended by mere mortals, like me, so that we may be inspired and in awe at his alien logical powers.

[Zo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview that both gives you history and engages with the historical positions/arguments. The writing can be dry and difficult to follow, but I think that is somewhat inherent to the subject matter, and when my brain was awake and I was able to engage with the arguments it was consistently interesting. I like the way Soames engages with the views of the thinkers, though I do think he still could have done a little more to articulate their influence on modern philosophy or where modern philosophical debates stand in relation to these early 20th-century positions. My current philosophical knowledge feels more sympathetic to Quine's skepticism and Wittgenstein's cautions about what philosophy can do than Soames, but admittedly my current positions are built on a shallow knowledge base. Also would like to hear more about critiques of natural language philosophy, though it makes sense that wasn't part of this volume.

[Joshua Filler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soames's book sets the standard for a broad-ranging work detailing the history of analytic philosophy . It deals nicely with the major movements and is best suited (as Soames himself mentions) as a guide to the primary texts discussed (esp. important since Soames's book is not MERELY expository - it engages with the material in a (possibly) controversial way (or so some reviews will lead you to believe).

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly excellent. Soames often presents a thinker's argument better than the thinker himself does (and without much loss of detail). Sometimes, especially when reading during the small hours of the morning, the persistent symbolication of everything got on my nerves.

NB. This is a bad book to read when you're tired. Like so much philosophical history, it leaves one with the dreary impression that any theory can be plausibly rebutted.

[Frederik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I learned a lot from it. I look forward to reading volume 2. You probably need a bit of background in logic to understand some parts. Very clear overall but could have been even more clear in some places.

[John C. Duff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive insight to the development of analytic philosophy.

[Lulu]

History of philosophy

[Ben Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Soames is right - we do need more books on the history of analytic philosophy. This is partly a comment about analytic philosophy itself - philosophers of this stripe write almost exclusively ahistorically. But it is also an excellent way to understand the tradition. Soames excels at showing how various philosophers were motivated in their views by what came previously.

Soames begins this volume with G.E. Moore and ends it with early Quine. On the way he details Bertrand Russell's logicism, logical atomism, early Wittgenstein, and the logical positivists. Soames has a clear style and lays out complex arguments so that an undergrad could get at them. Soames' main point about in this volume is that, in contrast to its precursor, idealism, analytic philosophy is motivated by a commitment to the relevance of pre-philosophical thought in grounding any speculation. Soames shows how this motivation plays out in Moore's ethic, Russel's descriptivism, and Ross' anti-consequentialism.

[Taka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Matko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best history of analytic philosophy in print.