Reason and Analysis PDF
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Muirhead Library of Philosophy REASON AND ANALYSIS MUIRHEAD Muirhead Library of Philosophy METAPHYSICS In 17 Volumes I Time and Free Will Bergson II Reason and Analysis Blanshard III Appearance and Reality Bradley IV In Defence of Free Will Campbell V Person and Object Chisholm VI Non-Linguistic Philosophy Ewing VII The Foundations of Metaphysics in Science Harris VIII The Concept of Meaning Hill IX Philosophy and Illusion Lazerowitz X The Relevance of Whitehead Leclerc XI Dialogues on Metaphysics Malebranche XII The Philosophy of Whitehead Mays XIII Studies in the Metaphysics of Bradley Saxena XIV The Intelligible World Urban XV Language and Reality Urban XVI Valuation Urban XVII Philosophy of Space and Time Whiteman REASON AND ANALYSIS BRAND BLANSHARD Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1962 by Brand Blanshard Published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an infoma business © 1962 Brand Blanshard All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in the Muirhead Library of Philosophy. This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace. These reprints are taken from original copies of each book. In many cases the condition of these originals is not perfect. The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of these reprints, but wishes to point out that certain characteristics of the original copies will, of necessity, be apparent in reprints thereof. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Reason and Analysis ISBN 0-415-29590-4 Metaphysics: 17 Volumes ISBN 0-415-29532-7 Muirhead Library of Philosophy: 95 Volumes ISBN 0-415-27897-X ISBN 978-0-415-29590-1 (hbk) REASON AND ANALYSIS BY BRAND BLANSHARD Publishedo n the Foundation Establishedin Memory of PAUL CARUS 1852-1919 Editor of the Open Court and the Monist from 1888 to 1919 LONDON GEORGEA LLEN & UNWIN LTD RuskinH ouse MuseumS treet FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1962 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research,c riticism, or review, as per- mitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no portion may be reproducedb y any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. © Brand Blanshard, 1962 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN in lIon 12 point Imprint type BY SIMSON SHAND LTD LONDON, HERTFORD AND HARLOW To My Colleagues in the Yale Departmento f Philosophy in Admiration and Friendship This page intentionally left blank PREFACE This book standsf irst in a sequenceo f threev olumesw hoset itles are Reasona nd Analysis, Reasona nd Goodness,a nd Reasona nd Belief. The secondo f thesev olumes has reachedp rint already; the third is still to be completed.T he first representsth e Caros Lecturesg iven in New York in December1 959, the other two the Gifford Lectures given in 1952-53 at St Andrews. The auditors of these Carus Lectures were members of the EasternD ivision of the American PhilosophicalA ssociation. They were a most generousa udience. But even they could hardly be expectedt o sit patiently throughf ive hundredp ageso f a colleague's meditations. What was actually delivered was a token offering of three lectures,b asedo n ChaptersV , VIII, and IX. The book is, in the main, a critical studyo f the analytic philosophy of the last forty years. During that period philosophy has changed with unexampleds peed.I ndeed the changeh as been so rapid that even devotedr eaderso f the philosophicalj ournalsh aveh ad difficulty in keeping up with it; any critic who selects some position for scrutiny is likely to be met with the commentt hat this position was abandonedm onthsa go, and that he is doing battle with ghosts.T his commentw ill no doubt be repeateda bout the presentw ork. In one sensei t will be quite correct. Some of the theoriese xaminedh ave had their day and ceasedt o be; othersa re as certainly on their way out; and I make no pretenceo f giving the readert he last word from the Magdalen or New College common room. Nor is the book a history ofthe analytic movement;I am far from knowing enought o write such a history. Why, then, should the book be written or read at all? There are several reasons. First, any attempt at philosophical revolution by first-rate minds is interesting; the analytic revolt is such an attempt, made by some of the ablest philosopherso f the century. Secondly, though this philosophy is a disorderly and sprawling development,I believe that its main thesesc an be singled out and effectively dealt with by themselvesw, ithout consideringa ll their entangling historical alliances. A number of these theses received their best formulation and defence from the logical em- piricists or positivists, a school that accordingly bulks large in the text. Thirdly, theset heories,p articularly thosec entralt o positivism, remain very much alive, despitet heir depreciationa nd disavowalb y many avant garde analysts. Finally, they are important. They are importantp hilosophicallyb ecauseth ey concernt he naturea nd range
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