Simon Blackburn

Philosophy From Aristotle to Zen this is the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of philosophy available. Ideal for students or the general reader, it provides lively and accessible coverage of not only Western philosophical traditions but also themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy. Oxford Paperback Reference The World's Most Trusted Reference Books * By the best-selling author of Think and Being Good * 2,500 entries including the most recent terms and concepts * Biographical entries for nearly 500 philosophers * Terms relevant to philosophy from neighbouring disciplines * Chronology of philosophical events.

This volume collects some influential essays in which Simon Blackburn, one of our leading philosophers, explores one of the most profound and fertile of philosophical problems: the way in which our judgments relate to the world. This debate has centered on realism, or the view that what we say is validated by the way things stand in the world, and a variety of oppositions to it. Prominent among the latter are expressive and projective theories, but also a relaxed pluralism that discourages the view that there are substantial issues at stake. The figure of the "quasi-realist" dramatizes the difficulty of conducting these debates. Typically philosophers thinking of themselves as realists will believe that they alone can give a proper or literal account of some of our attachments--to truth, to facts, to the independent world, to knowledge and certainty. The quasi-realist challenge, developed by Blackburn in this volume, is that we can have those attachments without any metaphysic that deserves to be called realism, so that the metaphysical picture that goes with our practices is quite idle. The cases treated here include the theories of value and knowledge, modality, probability, causation, intentionality and rule-following, and explanation. A substantial new introduction has been added, drawing together some of the central themes. The essays articulate a fresh alternative to a primitive realist/anti-realist opposition, and their cumulative effect is to yield a new appreciation of the delicacy of the debate in these central areas.

Lust, says Simon Blackburn, is furtive, headlong, always sizing up opportunities. It is a trail of clothing in the hallway, the trashy cousin of love. But be that as it may, the aim of this delightful book is to rescue lust "from the denunciations of old men of the deserts, to deliver it from the pallid and envious confessor and the stocks and pillories of the Puritans, to drag it from the category of sin to that of virtue." Blackburn, author of such popular philosophy books as Think and Being Good, here offers a sharp-edged probe into the heart of lust, blending together insight from some of the world's greatest thinkers on sex, human nature, and our common cultural foibles. Blackburn takes a wide ranging, historical approach, discussing lust as viewed by Aristophanes and Plato, lust in the light of the Stoic mistrust of emotion, and the Christian fear of the flesh that catapulted lust to the level of deadly sin. He describes how philosophical pessimists like Schopenhauer and Sartre contributed to our thinking about lust and explores the false starts in understanding lust represented by Freud, Kinsey, and modern "evolutionary psychology." But most important, Blackburn reminds us that lust is also life-affirming, invigorating, fun. He points to the work of David Hume (Blackburn's favorite philosopher) who saw lust not only as a sensual delight but also "a joy of the mind." Written by one of the most eminent living philosophers, attractively illustrated and colorfully packaged, Lust is a book that anyone would lust over.

Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, by the fear that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish and tribalistic, or competitive and aggressive. In this 'sparklingly clear' (Guardian) introduction to ethics Simon Blackburn tackles the major moral questions surrounding birth, death, happiness, desire and freedom, showing us how we should think about the meaning oflife, and how we should mistrust the soundbite-sized absolutes that often dominate moral debates.

The New Hume Debate is the first book to discuss the topic of whether Hume is a skeptic or a skeptical realist. It includes essays by philosophers and Hume scholars such as Barry Stroud and Galen Strawson.

Contemporary moral philosophers have produced an enormous amount of rich and varied published work on virtually all the issues falling within the scope of ethics and moral philosophy. Morality and the Good Life is a comprehensive survey of contemporary ethical theory which collects thirty-four selections on morality and the theory of value. Emphasizing value theory, metaethics, and normative ethics, it is non-technical and accessible to a wide range of readers. Selections are organized under six main topics: (1) Concepts of Goodness, (2) What Things are Good?, (3) Virtues and Ethics, (4) Realism vs. Anti-Realism, (5) Value and Obligation, and (6) The Value and Meaning of Life. The text includes both a substantial general introduction featuring explanatory summaries of all the selections and an extensive topical bibliography, which enhance the volume's research and pedagogical utility. The most up-to-date and wide-ranging survey of its kind, Morality and the Good Life is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in contemporary ethical theory, moral philosophy, and theory of value.

Materialism or 'physicalism' has become the common background against which contemporary scientists and philosophers investigate the world. The doctrine that all phenomena are physical forms the basis of much current thinking in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, the theory of meaning, and the theory of value. Contemporary Materialism brings together key articles by many leading contemporary philosophers.The contemporary classics included in this collection chart problems, positions and themes concerning the issue of materialism. To bring the collection up-to-date, each author was invited to provide a follow-up piece designed to assess the progress and development of the field since the first appearance of the contemporary classic. Many of the contributors have supplied these useful follow-up pieces.The editors have provided a substantial introduction to guide the students through the major themes. The selections themselves are largely non-technical and accessible. Contemporary Materialism will be vital reading for anyone concerned with the wide-ranging impact of materialism on contemporary philosophy.

Naturalism Without Foundations is informal, lively, and widely accessible throughout, yet at the same time it considers in depth and carefully a cluster of issues central to contemporary philosophical and social scientific investigation while utilizing methods and conceptualizations at the very cutting edge of philosophical investigation.

"... a complex and extremely well-argued work..". -- Library Journal