A Thing of This World: A History of Continental Anti-Realism

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Northwestern University Press, Jul 13, 2007 - Philosophy - 590 pages
At a time when the analytic/continental split dominates contemporary philosophy, this ambitious work offers a careful and clear-minded way to bridge that divide. Combining conceptual rigor and clarity of prose with historical erudition, A Thing of This World shows how one of the standard issues of analytic philosophy--realism and anti-realism--has also been at the heart of continental philosophy.

Using a framework derived from prominent analytic thinkers, Lee Braver traces the roots of anti-realism to Kant's idea that the mind actively organizes experience. He then shows in depth and in detail how this idea evolves through the works of Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida. This narrative presents an illuminating account of the
history of continental philosophy by explaining how these thinkers build on each other's attempts to develop new concepts of reality and truth in the wake of the rejection of realism. Braver demonstrates that the analytic and continental traditions have been discussing the same issues, albeit with different vocabularies, interests, and approaches.
By developing a commensurate vocabulary, his book promotes a dialogue between the two branches of philosophy in which each can begin to learn from the other.
 

Contents

The Kantian Root
3
Defining Realism
13
Part 1 The Kantian Paradigm
31
Part 2 The Heideggerian Paradigm
255
Notes
515
Bibliography
559
Index
585
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Page 34 - Hitherto it has been assumed that all our knowledge must conform to objects.

About the author (2007)

Lee Braver is chair of the department of philosophy at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.

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