The Logical Alien

This extraordinary book constitutes nothing less than a philosophical engagement with the history of fundamental conceptions of logic from Descartes to Leibniz, through Kant and Frege, to early and later Wittgenstein--an engagement that explores different ways of conceiving this history, different ways of conceiving what logic is, what thought and judgment are, as well as what knowledge is and how it relates to thought and judgment. There is a distinctive form of philosophical self-engagement that characterizes Conant's remarkable 'Replies' in Part II. No reader can enter into this mode of self-engagement--this manner of working through layers of understanding and misunderstanding, layers of criticism and self-clarification--without herself becoming fruitfully entangled in the very kind of philosophical activity that these 'Replies' seek to exemplify. These pages are filled with nuances in conceptual clarification, a wealth of philosophical distinctions, and a level of rigor in philosophical reflection that is rarely found on our philosophical planet. This book will hold a singular place in the contemporary philosophical landscape.--Andrea Kern, author of Sources of Knowledge This book is remarkable in its content, unique in its form, and innovative in its understanding of philosophical methodology. The essays in Part I provoke a lively dialogue. In his replies in Part II, Conant shows us the multiplicity of ways in which, in doing the history of philosophy, we blind ourselves to some philosophical possibility. In doing so, he enables us to see over and again a deep truth about the nature of philosophy and why it is difficult. The result is an exceptionally interesting and original work--one that is not so much an outstanding contribution to some 'field' within philosophy as a work capable of reshaping what one takes philosophy to be.--Cora Diamond, author of Reading Wittgenstein with Anscombe, Going On to Ethics