Philosophical Finesse
Studies in the Art of Rational Persuasion
Published on 1. June 1989
Book
Hardback
412 pages
978-0-19-824455-4 (ISBN)
Description
This book puts forward an interpretation of rationality which is much broader than the one underlying the current polarity between analytic and continental philosophy. It will help to reaffirm a range of ideas which have long been pushed to the sidelines by the dominance of the geometric model of philosophical argument.
Descartes's dream of attaining a `certitude equal to the demonstrations of Arithmetic and Geometry' reinforced the assumption that rationality must be assessed in terms of logical structure. Against this, Pascal invoked the notion of `finesse', and Warner extends Pascal's usage in this book to specify a related set of informal but legitimate styles of argument.
Descartes's dream of attaining a `certitude equal to the demonstrations of Arithmetic and Geometry' reinforced the assumption that rationality must be assessed in terms of logical structure. Against this, Pascal invoked the notion of `finesse', and Warner extends Pascal's usage in this book to specify a related set of informal but legitimate styles of argument.
Reviews / Votes
'a useful addition to the group of works which recently have called attention of philosophers to the character of their own discourse on the grounds of the philosophical, not merely the ornamental significance of that analysis'Berel Lang, State University of New York at Albany, The Review of Metaphysics, March 1992 'Philosophical Finesse has much to offer to many readers. It is informed and informative. It is argued tightly and lives up to the expectations it creates in the reader ... it is researched carefully and extensively.'
John Poulakos, University of Pittsburgh, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1994
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Oxford University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
672 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-824455-4 (9780198244554)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
Philosophical reasoning: The disposition to Geometrize; Classical models of rationality: Plato, Aristotle and Cicero; On taking the Phaedo seriously; Job versus his comforters: Rival paradigms of "Wisdom"; Pascal's reasons of the heart; Hume and the education of Pamphilus; Nietzsche's philosophical hammer; Philosophical finesse; notes