The View from Within

Yitzhak Benbaji, Menachem Fisch

Description

The View from Within examines the character of reason and the ability of an individual to effectively distance himself from the normative framework in which he functions in order to be self-critical and innovative. To accomplish this task, Menachem Fisch and Yitzhak Benbaji critically employ or reject the recent writings of Brandom, Friedman, Frankfurt, Walzer, Davidson, Williams, Habermas, Rorty, and McDowell to offer a fundamental analysis of the character of reason and the problem of relativism.

This ambitious book forcefully raises the problem of rational normative change and makes the unique and insightful claim that although we cannot be convinced by normative criticism to modify or replace our norms, we can be rationally motivated to do so by the effect of exposure to trusted critics. Its unprecedented analysis, with its solution to the problem of normative self-criticism that has baffled philosophers for the past sixty years, will be welcomed by both students and scholars of philosophy.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Épistémologie
• Éthique et morale
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Creativity
• Epistemology

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 octobre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268079710
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 42 Mo

Extrait

THE V IEW FROMW ITHIN

MENACHEM FISCH and YITZHAK BENBAJI

E V IEW T H F R O M W ITHIN

Normativity and the Limits of Self-Criticism

University of Notre Dame Press

Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2011 by University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fisch, Menachem. The view from within : normativity and the limits of self-criticism / Menachem Fisch and Yitzhak Benbaji. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-268-02904-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-02904-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Normativity (Ethics) 2. Criticism (Philosophy) I. Benbaji, Yitzhak. II. Title. BJ1458.3.F57 2011 170'.44 — dc23 2011034654

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

for H A N N A

and H A G I T

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

       Setting the Stage: The Problem with Rationality Two Concepts of Rational Action Normative Diversity: An Introduction Rorty’s Relativism The Road Taken The Argument

PA R T I . T H R O U G H T H I C K A N D T H I N

Introduction

        Comparative Irrealism and Community-Based Semantics: Kripkenstein and Beyond Normativity through Thick and Thin Normative Diversity Comparative Irrealism: The Philosophical Thesis In Defense of Comparative Irrealism Conclusion: Irrealism and Relativism

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Contents

         Factuality without Realism: Normativity and the Davidsonian Approach to Meaning The Argument Theoretical and Normative Diversity in Davidsonian Theories of Meaning Factuality without Realism

PA R T I I . R AT I O N A L I T Y F R O M W I T H I N

Introduction

        The Limits of Connectiveness: Criticism from Within and the Interpretive Account of Normativity Introduction Truth by Interpretation The Thick and the True The Thin and the Void Comparative Irrealism and the Limits of Normative Comparison Two Objections The Interpretive Account and the Open Question Argument Taking Stock

         Rationality as Agreement: Friedman’s Special Case for Science Introduction From Kant to Kuhn The Problem of Rationality: Carnap, Kuhn, and Conceptual Relativism Science in Context An “Is” for an “Ought”

         Toward a Critical Pragmatism: A Brandomian Beginning Friedman, McDowell, and Beyond Interpretivism Revisited: Enter Brandom

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Contents

Making Brandom Explicit I: The Constitutive Role of Conceptual Norms Making Brandom Explicit II: The Normative and the Critical

PA R T I I I . N O R M AT I V E S E L F - C R I T I C I S M

Introduction

         The Critical Stance Brandom on the Rationality of Norm Making Making Criticism Explicit The Teleology of Problemhood The Critical Stance

         The Achievement of Self-Criticism The Critical Moment Toward a Frankfurtian Analysis of Normative Criticism Normativity and “the Contingent Necessities of Love” Getting Ourselves Wrong: Frankfurt on Normative Self-Criticism “Socializing Harry” Within You and Without You: The Self ’s Normative Dialogue The Achievement of Normative Self-Criticism

        Science Revisited Taking Stock Back to Science I: Meta-Frameworks, Trading Zones, and Beyond Back to Science II: The Force of Creative Indecision In Conclusion

Notes Bibliography Index

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302 357 375