Philosophical Explanations

Rating:
Summary: Explaining it all
Review: I remember once in a seminary class the professor was trying to emphasise a philosophical point, and was grasping for the name of someone who had written an essay that concentrated on the 'wrong points', as this professor put it. He couldn't remember the name, but said instead, 'that upstart philosopher from Harvard'.

At that point, I knew he meant Robert Nozick. I don't necessarily agree that he is an upstart, but I can see why academics of certain complexions and backgrounds might. In his book 'Anarchy, State, and Utopia', he challenges conventional thinking on many socio-political theories of the current culture -- liberalism, socialism, and conservatism. This book irritated many people, and while it has somewhat faded from view, still remains a text that calls for consideration.

Nozick's follow-up book, 'Philosophical Explanations', is the continuation of Nozick's philosophy in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and value. He continues his pattern of exploration (a particular word Nozick likes to use with regard to his method): 'At no point is the person forced to accept anything. He moves along gently, exploring his own and the author's thoughts. He explores together with the author, moving only where he is ready to; then he stops. Perhaps, at a later time mulling it over or in a second reading, he will move further.'

This is indeed the manner I found this book most useful, in re-reading at different times to pick up on different aspects of the narrative and the theory. Nozick explores in the introduction the difference between explanation and proof -- proof requires (in most manner of logical thinking) a particular pattern of argument with dependent pieces being led in a certain direction of inexorable conclusion; explanation can be tentative, sometimes dialectical, subject to revision without throwing out the entire structure built.

This, obviously, is a problem for rigourous scholars and philosophers. It certainly gives a sense of the kind of subjectivism that liberal academia is constantly accused of, and angers those who are set on belief and discovery of absolutes. But in his discussion of how to take skeptics seriously, he addresses the problem of what becomes important for consideration.

That a skeptic becomes convinced of the argument does not solve the problem, for the questions remain even in the absence of the skeptic. It is to the argument. to the problem that philosophical explanations and theories must speak. That being said, there are some presuppositions that must be made at the start. This is precisely the area in which explanation becomes of more value than proof.

By using the method of explanation, one can modify the structure without 'breaking a chain' of proof that would require the whole structure to be abandoned. As we none of us can start from an objectively neutral starting point, this becomes an intriguing and valuable way of approaching the subjects.

Modern psychology, sociology, and political science strives to find patterns and 'expected events' in the lives of their respective individual and collective subjects. It is easy to see patterns that would support both the idea of free will and the idea of deterministic control.

The final chapter of this section deals with the meaning of life. Nozick offers no easy answers (so don't buy this book thinking that it has the meaning you're searching for!) -- the meaning of life is not a property imputed into the object (or subject). While Nozick does explore different considerations, ultimately philosophy cannot answer the question of the meaning of life in an emotionally and intellectually satisfying way. Nozick does explore what it means to have a God-based meaning attached to life, but this also has difficulties that philosophy has difficulty resolving. Is this where faith comes into play? Most probably, but a faith built on ignorance (particularly built upon deliberate ignorance) becomes more of a self-delusion than than a meaning.

Nozick finishes the book with philosophy connected in a value-based way to art, literature, and the humanities, in which many find those indescribable facets of the meaning of life. 'We can envision a humanistic philosophy, a self-consciously artistic one, sculpting ideas, value, and meaning into new constellations, reverberative with mythic power, lifting and ennobling us by its content and by its creation, leading us to understand and to respond to value and meaning -- to experience them and attain them anew.'

This is not easy reading. This takes dedication, some philosophical background (particularly for the section on epistemology), and a desire for inquiry. Nozick's philosophy does not neatly fit the pattern of any particular philosophical school, so questions will arise from beyond the text. For the theologically minded (my particular area of concern at the present), the considerations here are important to take into account in avoiding many common intellectual blunders in theological explanation. Theology often draws on the explanation model of development rather than the proof model (as the proof model can fall to pieces very quickly with just a few assumptions challenged or removed). The themes and ideas contained here can help build a stronger theology (although Nozick might not have intended that as one of the purposes of this book!).

Rating:
Summary: An incredible book
Review: Ideas can provoke, and even individuals who are absolutely determined to be objective and weigh each idea or opinion without getting emotionally involved usually at one time or another find themselves in heated debate. One can only speculate on the reasons why anger typically accompanies the exchange of ideas. One would think maybe that individuals intelligent enough to discuss sometimes very complex ideas would not permit themselves to get agitated. Another possibility, from a biological/evolutionary standpoint, is that anger is a kind of defense mechanism: that it reacts against new ideas as these disturb the cognitive equilibrium of the individual. Since ideas determine an individual's outlook and how he/she deals with reality, too rapid a change in the individual's conceptual structure might threaten the individual's survival.

Early in the introduction to this book, the author makes a strong and uncommon case against what he has termed 'coercive philosophy'. This, he says, is characterized by its terminology: arguments are "powerful", and best when they are "knockdown". Such arguments, if the premises are believed by your "opponent", force your opponent to the conclusion, which he/she must believe, lest they be labeled as "irrational", the latter they are told, and some of them believe, is the ultimate anathema. But if they do not, the "owner" of the argument is in trouble: he/she is faced with someone who is perfectly comfortable with the "irrational" label. What does the arguer do then?

Therefore, the author asks the reader to consider another approach to philosophy, and that approach is reflected in the title of the book. The role of philosophy is to explain, not to argue. Good philosophy will explain the fundamental problems and curiosities of life, such as ethics, the mind-body problem, the nature of knowledge, and so on. As the author puts it: "There is a second mode of philosophy, not directed to arguments and proofs: it seeks explanations. Various philosophical things need to be explained; a philosophical theory is introduced to explain them, to render then coherent and better understood."

This is a delightfully optimistic approach to philosophical inquiry, for it assumes from the beginning that the individuals who are engaging in the philosophical conversation are willing to sit down and discuss calmly, rationally, and openly, the issues at hand. The author assumes the reader is such a person, and the book is full of thought-provoking ideas presented in a way that respects the dignity and intelligence of the reader. His discussion of "explanation versus proof" is fascinating and in fact has applications in artificial intelligence.

I found chapter five on "The Foundations of Ethics" the most lucid of all in the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed its reading. That does not mean that I agree with all that he asserts. In fact that opening sentence of the chapter, that states that "ethical truths find no place within the contemporary scientific picture of the world", I profoundly disagree with. But no problem, as the author encourages disagreement, and speaks to the reader over and over again, imploring him/her to reconsider their positions, think through the issues, ask themselves questions, and find answers never before thought of.

Indeed, everything about this book is good, and the practice of "philosophical explanation" results in a more productive and interesting methodology. There is no place for anger, ridicule, or other forms of negativity in philosophical, or any other forms of inquiry. Genuine respect for all ideas expressed by all individuals, no matter how radical, no matter how "offensive" is the optimum path to truth. Such a path may not be the shortest one, but it is certainly the best one.

Rating:
Summary: A refreshing perspective on philosophy's great ideas
Review: In-depth study of philosophy has one general result: the certain knowledge that one knows almost nothing with certainty. Such questions as "Is good inherently better than evil?" and "How can we know whether or not we have free will?" become nearly impossible to answer. The conclusions of philosophy often seem cerebral and intangible, remote from day-to-day experience. Philosophy can seem like a word-game with no correspondence to real life.

In Philosophical Explanations, Harvard professor Robert Nozick takes us down a different path. He starts with the conclusions that seem, to him, inherently true. For instance, "Human beings have free will." Then he pursues philosophical thinking backward from the premises, showing how this might be shown, what evidence supports the view, and how different evidence provides troubling contradictory notions. In "Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?" Nozick rejects solipsism out of hand--again, he is collecting evidence to support his own views, not pursuing logical argument to determine an unsuspected truth. This approach is much easier to reconcile with our experience of the world.

Although a background in philosophy makes reading this book a deeper, richer experience, the language is completely accessible to the layman. For instance, "Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?" starts this way: "The question appears impossible to answer. Any factor introduced to explain why there is something will itself be part of the something to be explained, so it (or anything utilizing it) could not explain all of the something--it could not explain why there is anything at all...Some writers conclude from this that the question is ill-formed and meangingless. But why do they cheerfully reject the question rather than despairingly observe that it demarcates a limit of what we can hope to understand?"

If you've an interest in philosophy's Great Thoughts, curl up and ponder Nozick's well-written Philosophical Explanations. This book will surely get you thinking.

Rating:
Summary: A refreshing perspective on philosophy's great ideas
Review: In-depth study of philosophy has one general result: the certain knowledge that one knows almost nothing with certainty. Such questions as "Is good inherently better than evil?" and "How can we know whether or not we have free will?" become nearly impossible to answer. The conclusions of philosophy often seem cerebral and intangible, remote from day-to-day experience. Philosophy can seem like a word-game with no correspondence to real life.

In Philosophical Explanations, Harvard professor Robert Nozick takes us down a different path. He starts with the conclusions that seem, to him, inherently true. For instance, "Human beings have free will." Then he pursues philosophical thinking backward from the premises, showing how this might be shown, what evidence supports the view, and how different evidence provides troubling contradictory notions. In "Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?" Nozick rejects solipsism out of hand--again, he is collecting evidence to support his own views, not pursuing logical argument to determine an unsuspected truth. This approach is much easier to reconcile with our experience of the world.

Although a background in philosophy makes reading this book a deeper, richer experience, the language is completely accessible to the layman. For instance, "Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?" starts this way: "The question appears impossible to answer. Any factor introduced to explain why there is something will itself be part of the something to be explained, so it (or anything utilizing it) could not explain all of the something--it could not explain why there is anything at all...Some writers conclude from this that the question is ill-formed and meangingless. But why do they cheerfully reject the question rather than despairingly observe that it demarcates a limit of what we can hope to understand?"

If you've an interest in philosophy's Great Thoughts, curl up and ponder Nozick's well-written Philosophical Explanations. This book will surely get you thinking.