Philosophy’s Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress diagnoses the state of philosophy as an academic discipline and calls it to account, inviting further reflection and dialogue on its cultural value and capacity for future evolution.
Offers the most up-to-date treatment of the intellectual and cultural value of contemporary philosophy from a wide range of perspectives Features contributions from distinguished philosophers such as Frank Jackson, Karen Green, Timothy Williamson, Jessica Wilson, and many others Explores the ways philosophical investigations of logic, world, mind, and moral responsibility continue to shape the empirical and theoretical sciences Considers the role of contemporary philosophy in political issues such as women’s rights, the discrimination of minorities, and public health
Notes on Contributors ix Introduction I: Philosophy and the Perils of Progress 1 Russell Blackford Introduction II: Philosophy on the Inclined Plane 13 Damien Broderick Part 1 Roads to Progress in Philosophy 19 1 Coming Out of the Shade 21 Myisha Cherry 2 What has Philosophy Ever Done for Us? 31 James Ladyman 3 Progress and Philosophy 41 Noretta Koertge 4 Only Connect 51 Frank Jackson Part 2 Bumps in the Road, Rabbits in the Landscape 61 5 Chmess, Abiding Significance, and Rabbit Holes 63 Peter Boghossian and James A. Lindsay 6 Philosophy as the Evocation of Conceptual Landscapes 75 Massimo Pigliucci 7 Three Barriers to Philosophical Progress 91 Jessica Wilson Part 3 Cautious Optimism 105 8 Is there Progress in Philosophy? A Brief Case for Optimism 107 Daniel Stoljar 9 Is Philosophy Progressing Fast Enough? 119 Stuart Brock 10 Does Philosophical Progress Matter? 133 Richard Kamber Part 4 Philosophy and Science 145 11 Between Gods and Apes: On the Lack of Scientific and Philosophical Progress 147 Mark Walker 12 Model]Building in Philosophy 159 Timothy Williamson 13 Progress in Philosophy and in the Physical Sciences: How Far Does The Analogy Hold? 173 Christopher Norris Part 5 Re-Imagining the Conversation 191 14 Philosophy as “Intellectual War of Values” 193 Stefan Lorenz Sorgner 15 Re]Imagining the Philosophical Conversation 201 Karen Green 16 David Lewis and the Kangaroo: Graphing Philosophical Progress 213 Benj Hellie 17 Philosophy, Progress, and Identity 227 Ward E. Jones Index 241
Russell Blackford is an Australian philosopher, legal scholar, and literary critic based at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. His many books include Freedom of Religion and the Secular State (Wiley Blackwell, 2012), Humanity Enhanced: Genetic Choice and the Challenge for Liberal Democracies (2014), and The Mystery of Moral Authority (2016). Damien Broderick is an award-winning Australian science and fiction writer, editor, and critical theorist, and a former Senior Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. He is the author or editor of some 70 books including, as co-editor with Russell Blackford, Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Artificial Minds (Wiley Blackwell, 2014).
Reviews for Philosophy's Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress
Cogent and worth reading - particularly the essays by Massimo Pigliucci and Jessica Wilson. Also notable is the fine essay by Myisha Cherry, who argues forcefully that philosophers need to leave the shade and express their views clearly in accessible public debate. Hear, hear! - Barbara Ellen Hannan, The Philosopher's Magazine.
