Bøger af Kenneth B. Mcintyre

This book provides an overview of some of the most important critics of ¿Enlightenment rationalism.¿ The subjects of the volume (including, among others, Pascal, Vico, Schmitt, Weber, Anscombe, Scruton, and Tolkien) do not share a philosophical tradition as much as a skeptical disposition toward the notion, common among modern thinkers, that there is only one standard of rationality or reasonableness, and that that one standard is or ought to be taken from the presuppositions, methods, and logic of the natural sciences.The essays on each thinker are intended not merely to offer a commentary on that thinker, but also to place the person in the context of this larger stream of anti-rationalist thought.

1)    Introduction (Chapter 1) 2)    Pluralism (Section One)a)    Epistemological pluralism (Chapter 2)i)      Modality distinctionsii)     Logical category distinctionsb)    Value pluralismi)      Critique of monism (Chapter 3)ii)     Incompatibility of values/value systems (Chapter 4)iii)    Incommensurability of values/value systems (Chapter 5)iv)   Practical Reason and Moral Choices (Chapter 6)3)    Liberalism and Pluralism (Section Two)a)    Pluralist liberalism-Berlin, Hampshire, et al. (Chapter 7)(1)  Negative liberty as one value among many(2)  Positive liberty not really libertyb)    Modus Vivendi liberalism-Gray, McCabe, et al. (Chapter 8)(1)  Negative liberty not necessarily important(2)  Positive liberty not necessarily importantc)    Nomocratic liberalism-(Chapter 9)(1)  Negative liberty as primary value(2)  Positive liberty not really liberty; dangerous to negative liberty and to liberty under rule of law(3)  Liberty under rule of law as third concept of liberty(4)  Toleration as primary political virtue-toleration as putting up with something which find distasteful, not as approbationd)    Further implications-(Chapter 10)i)      The place and character of politics in a nomocratic stateii)     Dealing with monistic individuals and groups in a pluralist societyiii)    Value pluralism, Nomocratic liberalism, and international relations4)    Conclusion (Chapter 11)

This book examines Oakeshott's political philosophy within the context of his more general conception of philosophical understanding. The book stresses the underlying continuity of his major writings on the subject and takes seriously the implications of understanding the world in terms of modality.