The Rediscovery Of Common Sense Philosophy

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How should one go about conducting the business of philosophy? And what should we make of the paradoxical conclusions defended by the great and the good of the discipline? In this book it is argued that, contrary to common practice, philosophical paradoxes and counter-intuitive theses ought to be taken as clear indications that errors of one form or another have been committed.

The author presents a new account, defense, and illustration of this meta-philosophy of common sense, drawing on a variety of sources including the work of Aristotle, Reid, Moore, Ryle, Austin and Grice, current thinking in evolutionary biology and psychology, as well as an historically informed view of the origins of the 'spirit of modernity' so clearly exemplified by Descartes.

This approach to philosophy is then illustrated in a series of studies on topical issues ranging from metaphysics to ethics. Review: 'According to common sense, we human beings can reliably perceive physical objects; we can acquire true beliefs (and sometimes knowledge) about the external world; we can act in the world on the basis of our desires and beliefs; we are sometimes responsible for what we do because we have free will; certain things are good or bad, and certain acts are right or wrong, and these are facts which do not depend on our attitudes or beliefs and facts about which we can be correct or mistaken.

These doctrines have been relentlessly attacked by legions of philosophers from ancient times to the present. In the tradition of Aristotle, Thomas Reid, and G. E. Moore, Stephen Boulter mounts a formidable defense of commonsense philosophy, drawing on rigorous philosophical argument and recent scientific research, including evolutionary biology and psychology. ' - Fred D.

Miller, Jr., Bowling Green State University