Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy: Arguments and Responses PDF
Preview Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy: Arguments and Responses
Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy Arguments and Responses Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier NEW YORK • LONDON • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 1385 Broadway 50 Bedford Square New York London NY 10018 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2014 © Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier, 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the authors. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sullivan, Thomas D. Modern challenges to past philosophy : arguments and responses / Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4411-4166-8 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4411-7063-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy. I. Title. BD41.S85 2014 190 – dc23 2013045226 ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-4166-8 PB: 978-1-4411-7063-7 ePDF: 978-1-4411-4602-1 ePub: 978-1-4411-4496-6 Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. We dedicate this book to our loving and supportive wives, Ann and Ginny Contents Acknowledgments viii 1 Problems and Perspectives 1 2 The Essence of Philosophy 27 3 Arguments for Taking Past Philosophers Seriously 73 4 Science, Scientism, and Philosophy 91 5 Scientistic Attacks on Past and Present Philosophy 107 6 Philosophic Attacks on Past and Present Philosophy 127 7 Philosophy, Time, and Eternity 171 Bibliography 183 Index 190 Acknowledgments A number of people deserve our gratitude for assisting in some way with the writing and production of this book: Thomas Sullivan Jr., Seanne Harris, Julie Brooks, Michael Sullivan, Patrick Sullivan, Kerry LeClair, James Greene, Richard Kaplan, Thomas Nobrega, Marco Fioretti, Dwight Nelson, Kenneth Kemp, Michael Winter, Greg Coulter, Sandra Menssen, John Kronen, Pavel Gravilyuk, Jeremiah Reedy, and Michael Weiss. The superb copyediting of Ann M. Hale was indispensable and accomplished with extraordinary good cheer. Our editor, Haaris Naqvi, could not have been more supportive or patient about delays in delivering the goods to him. We are also very grateful to project manager Avinash Singh for his smooth guidance of the manuscript to the end. Thanks also are due the production team at Bloomsbury for their excellent work. We wish to thank The University of St. Thomas for research funds granted over the years. Russell Pannier thanks his wife Ann for a lifetime of love, inspiration, and helping him keep the cats off the computer keyboard. Tom Sullivan thanks his wife Ginny and his family for loving, unflagging support. 1 Problems and Perspectives Problems and purposes Overview The irreplaceable gifts that have come down to us over the centuries from philosophers of genius are no mere souvenirs from a bygone era. The content of historical philosophers’ thought bears on our own questions. Through diligent study, we can appropriate some of their wisdom to our considerable advantage. But is it really worth the effort to make cognitive contact with dead thinkers from remote times and places? Why struggle with their demanding and often cryptic thought? Is any philosophy worth much if it is devoid of modern science? And has not the philosophical community pushed forward in ways that render earlier philosophy irrelevant to modern problems? Here, in brief, is our answer to these and related questions, an answer that sketches the trajectory of this entire book. We all philosophize Out of wonder or need, we all philosophize. We ask: What does it all mean? Is life worth living? Not just my life, but anyone’s? Can we really know anything? Can we always be just? What would a just world look like? Do irredeemable evil and suffering ultimately triumph? Is there a providential Mind? Is there a living Being of infinite power, goodness, and wisdom? Is it at all plausible that such a Being has spoken to us “at sundry times and in diverse manners”?1 Or are we on our own in a frigid and uncaring universe? The choices Such philosophical questions include myriad others, less urgent but nonetheless intriguing: What is a proof? What is a number? Space? Time? Space-time? Chance? A poem? Beauty? A self? How can we move our bodies 1 Heb. 1:1.
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