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Setting the British empiricists--Locke, Berkeley, and Hume--in their contemporary and cultural context, Woolhouse examines their approaches to philosophy and their significance to 20th-century thought, and looks at what the empiricists actually have to say, rather than their classification as such. ... Read more

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A good introduction to the Empiricists
The Empiricists is a great introduction to some of the early philosophers in this area, providing an adequate introduction for new students.

Summary

The book covers the main empiricists; Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Locke, Berkeley and Hume, as well as the start of the Royal Society. It provides a brief biography of each, followed by an explanation of each philosopher's theories and ideas. It does not, however, go into an in-depth analysis of the philosopher's arguments, nor provide counter-arguments from other authors.

Why?

Each philosopher is covered in sufficient detail to allow the reader to understand their philosophy, without bogging down into discussions about the correctness of their approach. It covers their major works in a linear fashion, sometimes crossing over to others in who lived in the same period.

Why not?

As an introductory text, the book is fantastic. If you are looking for more detailed discussion and analysis, then you will need to look elsewhere.

Overall, a good summary introduction to the main philosophers of the period.

The Empiricists
Very friendly treatment of a widescoped and fleeting aspect in philosophy - Empericism.I used a chapter detailing some of the findings of John Locke, David Hume, and Berkley. The data was successfully transmitted to me and that is the authors credit! ... Read more

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Presenting a critical history of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century, focusing on the transition from logical positivism in its first half to the 'new philosophy of science' in its second, Stefano Gattei examines the influence of several key figures, but the main focus of the book are Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper.Kuhn as the central figure of the new philosophy of science, and Popper as a key philosopher of the time who stands outside both traditions. Gattei makes two important claims about the development of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century; that Kuhn is much closer to positivism than many have supposed, failing to solve the crisis of neopostivism, and that Popper, in responding to the deeper crisis of foundationalism that spans the whole of the Western philosophical tradition, ultimately shows what is untenable in Kuhn's view.Gattei has written a very detailed and fine grained, yet accessible discussion making exceptionally interesting use of archive materials. ... Read more

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A tribute to the stupidity of modern philosophy of science
This stupid book embodies the doctrinal idiocy of modern analytic philosophy of science. The book appears to be essentially Gattei's PhD thesis (indeed, it consists almost entirely of highly unimaginative, dissertation-style literature review); and, since Gattei is obviously intellectually spineless, the book reveals the doctrinal imprint in its purest form. The book's stupid thesis is that "the implicit presuppositions and the stated principles of Kuhn's philosophy are not very different from those of the logical positivists or logical empiricists he was determined to reject" (p. x). The notion that Kuhn was "determined to reject" logical positivism is of course utterly ridiculous. Two assumptions make such nonsense appear sensible to people like Gattei and Alexander Bird (his PhD advisor, who has written on the same topic). Firstly, that logical positivism is the alpha and the omega of philosophy of science, and that everyone must be "determined" to define his opinion in relation to it. Secondly, that the philosophy of science is a pathetic ping-pong game between philosophical isms. Because of these doctrinal assumptions, it never occurs to these people that someone might actually do philosophy of science by thinking about actual science and pursuing the interesting questions that arise, rather than by rummaging through the hottest post-positivist journals in search of some miniscule crevice that no one has exploited yet. ... Read more

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A century after the appearance of his famous works on religion, William James's philosophy of religion is still the subject of lively debate. James's numerous opponents have repeatedly charged him with abdication of intellectual responsibility, arguing that he advocated the adoption of religious belief without conclusive evidence on its behalf. In this book Hunter Brown shows that critics have consistently distorted James's view in the process of arriving at such charges.

The central argument presented here is that critics have failed to look at James's philosophical vision as a whole. This failure is addressed by Brown as he locates James's thought on religion within the wider scope of Radical Empiricism's analyses of experience in general, and subject-object relations in particular. Brown presents the main interpretations and critiques of James's work, and shows that James's views of religious experience, evil and power, human responsibility, and ethical concerns do not in fact lapse into subjectivism and fideism.

This penetrating study not only builds upon a long tradition of James scholarship but pushes through to new levels of inquiry and insight. It is a major work that will generate renewed discussion of James's thought along with the approaches and concerns emerging from it. ... Read more

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This latest volume in the longest-standing and most influential series in the field of the philosophy of science extends and expands on the discipline's recent historical turn. These essays take up the historical, sociological, and philosophical questions surrounding the particular intellectual movement of logical empiricism-both its emigration from Europe to North America in the 1930s and 1940s and its development in North America through the 1940s and 1950s. With an introduction placing them in their philosophical and historical context, these essays bear witness to the fact that the history of the philosophy of science, far more than a mere repository of anecdote and chronology, might be able to produce a decisive transformation in the philosophy of science itself.

Contributors: Richard Creath, Arizona State U; Michael Friedman, Stanford U; Rudolf Haller, U of Graz; Don Howard, Notre Dame; Diederick Raven, U of Utrecht; George Reisch; Thomas Ricketts, Northwestern U; Friedrich K. Stadler, U of Vienna; Thomas E. Uebel, U of Manchester.

Gary L. Hardcastle is assistant professor of philosophy at Bloomsburg University. Alan W. Richardson is associate professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia. ... Read more

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Carnap, Neurath, Frank, and Pryor
Finally, a book that fully states the enormous debt to logical empiricism in the comedy of Richard Pryor.Hardcastle's own essay on logical empiricism, the Catskills Yiddish comedy community in the 1940s and 1950s, and the young Pryor is expecially illuminating.

A Must Read for Everyone
Logical empiricism is a tough concept to grasp, but Dr. Gary Hardcastle does an amazing job at clarifying it.He is able to both educate a non-philosopher on Logical Empiricism easily, while elegantly grasping the experienced professional for the whole ride.This is an incredible book and an intellectual tease for his upcoming book on the Philosophy of Monty Python. ... Read more

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Moritz Pasch (1843-1930) is justly celebrated as a key figure in the history of axiomatic geometry. Less well known are his contributions to other areas of foundational research. This volume features English translations of 14 papers Pasch published in the decade 1917-1926. In them, Pasch argues that geometry and, more surprisingly, number theory are branches of empirical science; he provides axioms for the combinatorial reasoning essential to Hilbert’s program of consistency proofs; he explores "implicit definition" (a generalization of definition by abstraction) and indicates how this technique yields an "empiricist" reconstruction of set theory; he argues that we cannot fully understand the logical structure of mathematics without clearly distinguishing between decidable and undecidable properties; he offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a master of axiomatics, surveying in detail the thought experiments he employed as he struggled to identify fundamental mathematical principles; and much more. This volume will: Give English speakers access to an important body of work from a turbulent and pivotal period in the history of mathematics, help us look beyond the familiar triad of formalism, intuitionism, and logicism, show how deeply we can see with the help of a guide determined to present fundamental mathematical ideas in ways that match our human capacities, will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in logic and the foundations of mathematics. ... Read more

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A history of epistemology ranging from Hume to Kant, written by Justus Hartnack, who has been recognized as one of the most distinguished philosophers of our time. ... Read more

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A new direction in philosophy
Between 1920 and 1940 logical empiricism reset the direction of philosophy of science and much of the rest of Anglo-American philosophy. It began as a relatively organized movement centered on the Vienna Circle, and like-minded philosophers elsewhere, especially in Berlin. As Europe drifted into the Nazi era, several important figures, especially Carnap and Neurath, also found common ground in their liberal politics and radical social agenda. Together, the logical empiricists set out to reform traditional philosophy with a new set of doctrines more firmly grounded in logic and science.

Criticism and decline
Because of Nazi persecution, most of the European adherents of logical empiricism moved to the United States in the late 1930s. During the 1940s, many of their most cherished tenets became targets of criticism from outsiders as well as from within their own ranks. Philosophers of science in the late 1950s and 1960s rejected logical empiricism and, starting in the 1970s, presented such alternative programs such as scientific realism with evolutionary epistemology.

A resurgence of interest
During the early 1980s, philosophers and historians of philosophy began to study logical empiricism as an important movement. Unlike their predecessors in the 1960s-for whom the debate over logical empiricism now seems to have been largely motivated by professional politics-these philosopher no longer have to take positions for or against logical empiricism. The result has been a more balanced view of that movement, its achievements, its failures, and its influence.

Hard-to-find core writings now available
This collection makes available a selection of the most influential and representative writings of the logical empiricists, important contemporary criticisms of their doctrines, their responses, as well as the recent reappraisals. Introductions to each volume examine the articles in historical context and provide important background information that is vital to a full understanding of the issues discussed. They outline prevalent trends, identifying leading figures and summarize their positions and reasoning, as well as those of opposing thinkers. Available individually by volume.
1. The Emergence of Logical Empiricism (0-8153-2262-3) 432 pages
2. Logical Empiricism at its Peak (0-8153-2263-1) 4243 pages
3. Logic, Probability, and Epistemology (0-8153-2264-X) 424 pages
4. Logical Empiricism and the Special Sciences (0-8153-2265-8) 376 pages
5. Decline and Obsolescence of Logical Empiricsm (0-8153-2266-6) 440 pages
6. The Legacy of the Vienna Circle (0-8153-2267-4) 400 pages ... Read more

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This challenging book explores the interplay of language and visual perception at the heart of empiricism. A re-evaluation of the British empiricist tradition from the perspective of contemporary literary theory, it also offers a sustained challenge to theory itself. ... Read more

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This collection of essays focuses on a current issue of central important in contemporary philosophy, the relationship between philosophy and empirical studies.

• Explores in detail a range of examples which demonstrate how the older paradigm – philosophy as conceptual analysis – is giving way to a more varied set of models of philosophical work
• Each of the featured papers is a previously unpublished contribution by a major scholar

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent!
Yes, this is a pricey book.But it's worth every penny ... Read more

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Our knowledge comes primarily from experience. But is experience really what it seems? Is it reliable? Empiricist philosophers accept a 'commonsense' view of the phenomena we observe and yet conclude that all we can ever know are 'ideas'. Physical reality may not exist at all! The experimental breakthroughs of Kepler, Galileo and Newton - a radical new outlook in 17th-century science - informed this great British tradition in philosophy. Introducing Empiricism outlines the arguments of Locke, Berkeley, Hume, J.S. Mill, Bertrand Russell, and the last British empiricist, A.J. Ayer. It also looks at criticisms of empiricism in the work of Kant, Wittgenstein, Karl Popper and others. ... Read more

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Introduction Empiricism
Required reading for all students before leaving High Schools. The company's service as well as the quality of the merchandise was every bit what was promised. If this quality is the standard for this book store, I will order again from this company. ... Read more

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Hardbound. The philosophy of technology has been dominated by metaphysical analyses of the 'essence' of technology and by moral/critical reflections on the consequences of technology for individual and social forms of life. As a consequence, the study of engineering design and the making of modern technical artefacts is a blind spot within contemporary philosophy of technology.To develop a more internally oriented philosophy of technology, the authors in this volume believe that an empirical turn is necessary, similar to the turn witnessed in the philosophy of science. In this volume, authors explore the various ways in which empirical data can be used in ontological, epistemological, ethical or more general discussions in the philosophy of technology. All the chapters in the volume therefore contribute to an empirical turn in the philosophy of technology. ... Read more

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Now in paperback, Philosophical Standardism is ideal for bringing one of the fields preeminent scholars into the classroom. In this novel empirical treatment of fundamental issues in philosophy, Nicholas Rescher propounds an unorthodox approach to philosophical doctrines that is predicated on the idea of standardism. ... Read more