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Hypothesis and the Spiral of Reflection (Systematic Philosophy
"It is without any doubt Weissman's most mature, richest work and builds nicely on his earlier volumes, especially Intuition and Ideality . It is downright delightful to see a careful thinker unabashedly engaged in the great speculative enterprise of metaphysics and to observe with what skill he avoids the minefields that had blown up his predecessors. Hypothesis and the Spiral of Reflection is an important book by a rapidly developing major voice in this country." -- John Lachs, Vanderbilt University
This book describes a realist, fallibilist alternative when intuitionism and its psychocentric ontology are rejected. Weissman proposes an agenda for metaphysical inquiry and also a method for testing metaphysical claims. Arguing that science and metaphysics are successive refinements of the maps and plans used in practical life, he affirms that metaphysics is to complete our self-understanding by locating us within a world we have not made.
This book is a sequel to Intuition and Ideality which surveys the many versions of intuitionism--intuitionism as it prescribes that reality be identified with mind itself or with the things set before our inspecting mind.
"Written with clarity and elegance, it is a well-argued defense of an important alternative to both analytic philosophy and phenomenology." --Panayot Butchvarov, The University of Iowa
This book describes a realist, fallibilist alternative when intuitionism and its psychocentric ontology are rejected. Weissman proposes an agenda for metaphysical inquiry and also a method for testing metaphysical claims. Arguing that science and metaphysics are successive refinements of the maps and plans used in practical life, he affirms that metaphysics is to complete our self-understanding by locating us within a world we have not made.
This book is a sequel to Intuition and Ideality which surveys the many versions of intuitionism--intuitionism as it prescribes that reality be identified with mind itself or with the things set before our inspecting mind.
"Written with clarity and elegance, it is a well-argued defense of an important alternative to both analytic philosophy and phenomenology." --Panayot Butchvarov, The University of Iowa
241 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1989
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November 16, 2019
If you're a metaphysician, particularly a metaphysical realist (yes, I hear the breathing of the .1% of you out there), this complex book is for you. (I for one am not a real physician, I just play the part of a metaphysician when writing books.) Hypothesis and the Spiral of Reflection is written with a respect for scientific method yet never descends into scientism.
A brief quote: "Perhaps the good, the true, and the beautiful are so often thought to be subversive because of threatening the current balance of constraining values, hence our developmental experience of safety and risk."
Unlike some philosophers, Weissman isn’t shy about saying, "I don't know." He is as careful with his arguments as he is aware of human fallibility toward assessing that which exists independent of the filters that are our precepts and conceptions. I particularly appreciate that he is careful in using such as the term "mind" instead of "the mind." I also enjoyed metaphors such as geometric-structural relationships within space and time referenced by a key with a lock as its complement. His metaphors are always illustrative while reaching beyond themselves toward instantiation.
Realism has generally fallen out of favor for hundreds of years philosophical inquiry, preferring instead the hubris of our phenomenalism, intuitionism and idealism. But something must serve to check our own ignorance and beliefs; that something is metaphysical realism. After all, without checks and balances we are certain to become more ignorant yet. If humans can exist long enough, perhaps books and ideas like this will be dis-covered and revalued for their contribution and worth.
A brief quote: "Perhaps the good, the true, and the beautiful are so often thought to be subversive because of threatening the current balance of constraining values, hence our developmental experience of safety and risk."
Unlike some philosophers, Weissman isn’t shy about saying, "I don't know." He is as careful with his arguments as he is aware of human fallibility toward assessing that which exists independent of the filters that are our precepts and conceptions. I particularly appreciate that he is careful in using such as the term "mind" instead of "the mind." I also enjoyed metaphors such as geometric-structural relationships within space and time referenced by a key with a lock as its complement. His metaphors are always illustrative while reaching beyond themselves toward instantiation.
Realism has generally fallen out of favor for hundreds of years philosophical inquiry, preferring instead the hubris of our phenomenalism, intuitionism and idealism. But something must serve to check our own ignorance and beliefs; that something is metaphysical realism. After all, without checks and balances we are certain to become more ignorant yet. If humans can exist long enough, perhaps books and ideas like this will be dis-covered and revalued for their contribution and worth.
Displaying 1 of 1 review