Studies in Idealism . Volume 3

A set of studies of various ideas and theories that play a key role in contemporary idealism and are important for the pragmatic idealism that Nicholas Rescher long was developing. Preface Chapter 1: WHAT SORT OF IDEALISM IS VIABLE TODAY? 1. On Viability 2. Idealism and its Modes 3. Problems of Idealism 4. Conceptual Idealism and its Merits 5. What Conceptual Idealism Comes To 6. Problems of Mind and Matter Chapter 2: REALITY IN THE LIGHT OF REALISM AND IDEALISM 1. Preliminaries 2. Reality 3. Scientific Realism and its Problems 4. The Security/Definitiveness Trade-Off 5. Common Sense Realism and its Problems 6. Why Not Abandon Realism? 7. Regulative Realism 8. Realism and Idealism Chapter 3: THE ARGUMENTS FROM ERROR AND IGNORANCE: AN EPISTEMIC APPROACH TO FACTUAL REALISM 1. Error 2. Ignorance 3. Lessons Chapter 4: PRAGMATIC IDEALISM AND META-PHYSICAL REALISM 1. The Existential Component of Realism 2. Realism in its Regulative/Pragmatic Aspect 3. The Role of Presumption 4. The Role of Retrovalidation 5. Retrospect Chapter 5: POSSIBILITY CONCEPTUALISM AS AN APPROACH TO MODAL ONTOLOGY 1. Modal Conceptualism 2. Possibility Conceptualism 3. Why Not Possibility Realism? 4. Why Not Possibility Nominalism? 5. The Crux of Possibility Conceptualism 6. Overcoming the Gödelian Objection 7. Overcoming the Insufficiency Objection Chapter 6: OPTIMALISM AND THE RATIONALITY OF THE REAL (ON THE PROSPECTS OF AXIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION) 1. Is The Real Rational? 2. The Turn to Axiology 3. Abandoning Causality 4. Why Optimalism? 5. Is Optimalism Theocentric? 6. Is Optimalism Purposive? 7. Further Difficulties 8. Violating Common Sense 9. Wishful Thinking? 10. Conclusion Chapter 7: THE REVOLT AGAINST ABSOLUTES IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY 1. Stagesetting 2. The Assault on Absolutes: Certainty 3. The Assault on Absolutes: Necessity 4. The Assault on Absolutes: Exactness And Detail 5. The Attack on Absolutes: Universality 6. The Assault on Absolutes: Timelessness 7. The Assault on Absolutes: Objectivity 8. A Fundamental Choice 9. Anti-Philosophy as the New Absolute Chapter 8: THE ABSOLUTE: A CONCISE HISTORY 1. Introduction 2. Kant (1724-1804) 3. German Idealism 4. British Idealism 5. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) 6. Pragmatism 7. Wittgenstein (1889-1951) 8. Retrospect 9. Coda 10. Prospect Chapter 9: DIALECTIC: A BRIEF HISTORY 1. Pre-History 2. Plato 3. Aristotle 4. The Medievals 5. Kant 6. Fichte and Schleiermacher 7. Hegel 8. Marx 9. 20th Century Analytic Philosophy 10. Examples of Dialectical Analysis 11. The Dialectic of Aporetic Situations 12. Summary Chapter 10: MCTAGGART’S LOGICAL DETERMINISM 1. Introduction 2. Extrinsic Determination 3. Thing and Quality: Individuation 4 The Scope and Structure Of McTaggart’s Necessitarianism 5. Vulnerability of the Position 6. Implications for McTaggart’s Determinism Chapter 11: BLANSHARD AND THE COHERENCE THEORY OF TRUTH 1. Coherence as the Definition of Truth 2. The Criteriology of Truth 3. Truth-Criteria as a Rational Warrant 4. Basic Problems of the Coherence Theory of Truth 5. A Contrast with Bradley 6. Conclusion