Pathways to Analytic Philosophy

Index of the Section: "Pathways to Western Philosophy"

General and Introductory Works (a selection of reference works on philosophy)
Formal and Descriptive Metaphysics (a brief guide to the introductory literature on metaphysics)
Formal and Descriptive Ontology (a brief guide to the introductory literature on ontology)
Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Logic (readings on some selected arguments)
Analytic Philosophy (introductory and historical works)
Phenomenology (introductory and historical works)

SUGGESTED READINGS

Classics of analytical metaphysics. Edited by Blackman Larry Lee. Lanham: University Press of America 1984.

Contents: Preface XI; Introduction XIII; Part I. Philosophical background. 1; Gottlob Frege: On concept and object 5; Gottlob Frege: On sense and meaning; 19; F. H. Bradley: Substantive and adjective 39; F. H. Bradley: Relation and quality 43; Alexius Meinong: The theory of objects 51; Part II. Philosophical analysis 61; F. H. Bradley: On appearance, error and contradiction 65; Bertrand Russell: Some explanations in reply to Mr. Bradley 73; F. H. Bradley: Reply to Mr. Russell's explanations 79; Bertrand Russell: The philosophy of logical atomism 83; Discussion: Gustav Bergmann: facts and things 117; Gustav Begmann: Sketch of an ontological inventory 127; Panayot Butchvarov: The limits of ontological analysis 137; Part III. Universals and particulars 153; Bertrand Russell: On the relations of universals and particulars 157; G. F. Stout: The nature of universals and propositions 175; G. E. Moore and G. F. Stout: Are the characteristics of particular things universal or particular? 191; H. H. Price: Universals and resemblance 211; Panayot Butchvarov: The identity and resemblance theories 233; Part IV. Identity and individuations 259; G. E. Moore: Identity 263; Discussion: Max Black: The identity of indiscernibles 281; Edwin B. Allaire: Bare particulars 293; V. V. Chappell: Particulars re-clothed 301; Edwin B. Allaire: Another look to bare particulars 305; Panayot Butchvarov: Identity 343; Part V. Names and descriptions 339; Bertrand Russell: On denoting 343; Discussion: P. F. Strawsion: On referring 357; Bertrand Russell: Mr. Strawson on referring 381; Herbert Hochberg: Strawson, Russell, and the King of France 387; Part VI. Intentionality 413; G. E. Moore: The refutation of Idealism 419; G. E. Moore: Beliefs and propositions 439; Bertrand Russell: Propositions and facts with more than on verb 455; Discussion: Gustav Bergmann: Intentionality 465; Herbert Hochberg: Intentions, facts and propositions 499-522.

Dummett Michael. Origins of analytical philosophy. London: Duckworth 1993.

From the First Chapter: "It is important to analytical philosophy that it understand its own history, seeing itself in the context of the general history of philosophy during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: especially is this true at a time when it is undergoing profound changes. In what follows I shall try to explore the origins of analytical philosophy; but this will not be a genuine historical investigation, for two reasons.

First, I shall ignore the contributions to the birth of analytical philosophy of the British philosophers Russell and Moore, and concentrate on those of philosophers writing in the German language. This is not because I do not think the contributions of Russell and Moore to be of profound importance, but because this ground has been fairly well worked over, and because, despite Russell's familiarity with the work of German-speaking philosophers, especially of Frege and Meinong, he and Moore sprang from a very different philosophical milieu. A grave historical distortion arises from a prevalent modern habit of speaking of analytical philosophy as 'Anglo-American'. Apart from its implicit dismissal of the work of modern Scandinavian philosophers, and of the more recent interest in analytical philosophy that has arisen in a great many other European countries, including Italy, Germany and Spain, this terminology utterly distorts the historical context in which analytical philosophy came to birth, in the light of which it would better be called 'Anglo-Austrian' than 'Anglo-American'." pp. 1-2.

Contents: Preface VII-XI; 1. The history of thinkers and the history of ideas 1; 2. The linguistic turn 4; 3. Truth and meaning 15; 4. The extrusion of thoughts from the mind 22; 5. The legacy of Brentano 28; 6. Husserl's view of meaning 43; 7. Sense without reference 57; 8. Noemata and idealism 76; 9. Frege on perception 84; 10. Grasping a thought 99; 11. Husserl on perception: the generalisation of meaning 110; 12. Proto-thoughts 121; 13. Thought and language 127; 14. Conclusion: a methodology or a subject-matter? 162; Appendix: Interview 167; Index 197-199.

Clarke David S. Philosophy's second revolution. Early and recent analytic philosophy. La Salle: Open Court 1997.

From the Preface: "Since its inception in ancient Greece, Western philosophy has undergone two revolutionary breaks with its past. The first was initiated by Descartes with his "method of doubt" that led to the questioning of basic assumptions of classical philosophy. The second had its origins around the turn of this century, and is associated with the movement known as "analytic" or "linguistic" philosophy. This book is a survey of some of the principal methodological issues raised within this second philosophical revolution, in particular with issues arising from differences between the approach to philosophic problems characteristic of an early formative phase that occupies roughly the first half of this century and the approach of a recent phase that continues into the present. Somewhat arbitrarily, the transition can be traced to the 1960 publication of W. V. O. Quine's Word and Object and the initial formulations at about this same time of a materialist metaphysics by the Australian philosophers U. T. Place, J. J. C. Smart, and David Armstrong. Besides surveying issues, I also argue that the general methodological approach characteristic of the early phase has distinct advantages over that of the later, as it marks out for philosophy an indispensable social role that is unique among the various disciplines. (...)This book is intended as an introduction to analytic philosophy for those with a minimal background in the history of philosophy and in logic. My hope is that it will provide a useful orientation to some central issues in present-day philosophy and to the works cited in the notes. But I have also used this orientation to argue for a certain point of view, and am aware that those impatient with detailed argumentation may find special difficulties in chapters 4, 5, and 6. The gist of these chapters may be gleaned by reading the more expository sections 4.1-4.3, 5.1, 6.1, and 6.2, and picking and choosing from or skimming through the remainder."(Notes omitted).

Contents: Preface IX; 1. Introduction 1; 2. Philosophic revolutions 10; 3. Alternative approaches to language 37; 4. Contemporary materialism 62; 5. Beleif, knowledge, and understanding 81; 6. In search of a subject matter 105; 7. Moral obligation 131; 8 Philosophical method 162; Motes 197; Bibliography 215; Index 225

Analytical Metaphysics. Edited by Tooley Michael. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. 1999. (5 volumes)

Laws of nature, causation, and supervenience. Volume 1.

Time and causation. Edited by Tooley Michael. Volume 2.

The nature of properties: nominalism, realism and trope theory. Volume 3.

Particulars, actuality, and identity over time. Volume 4.

Necessity and possibility. Volume 5.

Stroll Avrum. Twentieth-century analytic philosophy. New York: Columbia University Press 2000.

A Companion to Analytic Philosophy. Edited by Martinich Aloysius. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 2001.

"The volume is a comprehensive guide to over 40 of the significant analytic philosophers from the last hundred years. The entries in this Companion are contributed by contemporary philosophers, including some of the most distinguished now living, such as Michael Dummett, Frank Jackson, P. M. S. Hacker, Israel Scheffler, John Searle, Ernest Sosa, and Robert Stalnaker. They discuss the arguments of influential figures in the history of analytic philosophy, among them Frege, Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, and Quine. The articles on each philosopher provide clear and extensive analysis of profound and widely encountered concepts such as meaning, truth, knowledge, goodness, and the mind."

Contents: List of Contributors. 1. Introduction: A.P. Martinich (University of Texas at Austin). 2. Gottlob Frege (1848-1925): Michael Dummett (Oxford University). 3. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970): Thomas Baldwin (University of York). 4. G. E. Moore (1873-1958): Ernest Sosa (Brown University and Rutgers University). 5. C. D. Broad (1887-1971): James van Cleve (Brown University). 6. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951): P.M.S. Hacker (St. John's College, Oxford University). 7. Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970): Sahotra Sarkar (University of Texas at Austin). 8. Karl Popper (1892-1994): W.H. Newton-Smith (Balliol College, Oxford University). 9. Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976): Avrum Stroll (University of California at San Diego). 10. Alfred Tarski (1902-1983), Alonzo Church (1903-1995), and Kurt Gödel (1906-1978): C. Anthony Anderson (University of California at Santa Barbara). 11. Frank Ramsey (1903-1930): Brad Armendt (Arizona State University). 12. Carl G. Hempel (1905-1997): Philip Kitcher (Columbia University). 13. Nelson Goodman (1906-1998): Israel Scheffler (Harvard University). 14. H.L.A. Hart (1907-1992): Scott Shapiro (Yeshiva University). 15. Charles Stevenson (1908-1979): James Dreier (Brown University). 16. W.V. Quine (1908-): Peter Hylton (University of Illinois, Chicago). 17. A.J. Ayer (1910-1989): T.L.S. Sprigge (University of Edinburgh). 18. J.L. Austin (1911-1960): John R. Searle (University of California at Berkeley). 19. Norman Malcom (1911-1990): Carl Ginet (Cornell University). 20. Wilfrid Sellars (1912-1989): Jay F. Rosenberg (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill). 21. H.P. Grice (1913-1988): Stephen Neale (Rutgers University). 22. G.H. von Wright (1916-): Frederick Stoutland (St Olaf College and the University of Uppsala). 23. Roderick Chisholm (1916-1999): Richard Foley (New York University) and Dean Zimmerman (Syracuse University). 24. Donald Davidson (1917-): Ernest Lepore (Rutgers University). 25. G.E.M. Anscombe (1919-): Anselm Mller, (University of Trier, Germany). 26. R.M. Hare (1919-): Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Dartmouth College). 27. P.F. Strawson (1919-): P.F. Snowdon (Exeter College, Oxford). 28. Philippa Foot (1920-): Gavin Lawrence (University of California, Los Angeles). 29. Ruth Barcan Marcus (1921-): Max Cresswell (Victoria University of Wellington). 30. John Rawls (1921-): Norman Daniels (Tufts University). 31. Thomas Kuhn (1922-): Richard Grandy (Rice University). 32. Michael Dummett (1925-): Alexander Miller (Cardiff University). 33. Hilary Putnam (1926-): John Heil (Davidson College). 34. David Armstong (1926-): Frank Jackson (Australian National University). 35. Noam Chomsky (1928-): Peter Ludlow (State University of New York, Stony Brook). 36. Richard Rorty (1931-): Michael Williams (Johns Hopkins University). 37. John Searle (1932-): A.P. Martinich (University of Texas at Austin). 38. Jerry Fodor (1935-): Georges Rey (University of Maryland, College Park). 39. Saul Kripke (1940-) : David Sosa (University of Texas at Austin). 40. David Lewis (1941-): Robert Stalnaker (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Index.

Analytic philosophy: classic readings. Edited by Hales Steven. Belmont, California: Wadswort/Thomson Learning 2001.

"Featuring a topical organization and a number of outstanding articles not readily available, this text provides an exciting new introduction to the field and includes coverage of Mind and Ethics not covered in most other texts. The author's general introduction provides foundation, while specialist contributors provide introductions to the topics of the text."

Table of Contents: Preface. Editor's Introduction: A Brief Introduction to the Nature and Origins of Analytic Philosophy. PART I: PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE. Jacquette: A History of Early Analytic Philosophy of Language. Frege: On Sense and Reference. Russell: On Denoting. Strawson: On Referring. Austin: The Meaning of a Word. Wittgenstein: Rules and Private Language. Grice: Meaning. PART II: METAPHYSICS. Mulligan: A History of Early Analytic Metaphysics. Frege: The Thought. Carnap: The Elimination of Metaphysics Through the Logical Analysis of Language. Ayer: The Constitution of Material Things. Quine: On What There Is. Black: The Identity of Indiscernibles. Williams: The Elements of Being. PART III: EPISTEMOLOGY. Fumerton: A History of Early Analytic Epistemology. Russell: Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description. Moore: A Defence of Common Sense. Lewis: The Given Element in Experience. Quine: Two Dogmas of Empiricism. Ayer: The Nature of Knowledge. Gettier: Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? PART IV: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. Heil: A History of Early Analytic Philosophy of Mind. Brentano: The Distinction Between Mental and Physical Phenomena. Broad: The Traditional Problem of Body and Mind. Ryle: Descartes' Myth. Turing: Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Place: Is Consciousness a Brain Process? Putnam: Minds and Machines. PART V: ETHICS. Zimmerman: A History of Early Analytic Ethics. Moore: On Defining Good. Pritchard: Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake? Stevenson: The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms. Frankena: The Naturalistic Fallacy. Rawls: Two Concepts of Rules. Smart: Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism.

Ontology and the History of Logic

Table of Ontologists (PDF)

Ontologists of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Living Ontologists (a list of authors with an interest in ontology, with synthetic bibliographies)

Last modified: Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Pathways to Analytic Philosophy

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