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Book Cover
Book
Author Nagel, Thomas, 1937-

Title The last word / Thomas Nagel
Published New York : Oxford University Press, [1997]
©1997

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  149.2 Nag/Lwo  AVAILABLE
Description viii, 147 pages ; 22 cm
regular print
Summary In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, one of the most influential philosophers writing in English, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals of relativistic claims with respect to language, logic, science, and ethics. He shows that the last word in disputes about the objective validity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are - thoughts that we cannot regard from outside as mere psychological dispositions. His work sets a new standard in the debate on this crucially important question and should generate intense interest both within and outside the philosophical community
If there is such a thing as reason, it has to be universal. Reason must reflect objective principles whose validity is independent of our point of view - principles that anyone with enough intelligence ought to be able to recognize as correct. But this universality of reason is what relativists and subjectivists deny in ever-increasing numbers. And such subjectivism is not just an inconsequential intellectual flourish or badge of theoretical chic. It is exploited to deflect argument and to belittle the pretensions of the arguments of others. The continuing spread of this relativistic way of thinking threatens to make public discourse increasingly difficult and unproductive
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Rcason
Realism.
Reason.
Relativity -- Controversial literature.
Skepticism -- Controversial literature.
Skepticism.
Subjectivity -- Controversial literature.
Relativity.
Subjectivity.
LC no. 96005509
ISBN 0195108345 (cloth : alk. paper)
OTHER TI Oxford scholarship online. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006024588