Research Catalog

Title

World without design : the ontological consequences of naturalism / Michael C. Rea.

Author

Rea, Michael C. (Michael Cannon), 1968-

Publication

Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 245 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"Philosophical naturalism has dominated the Western academy for well over a century. According to Michael Rea, however, there is an important sense in which naturalism's status as orthodoxy is without rational foundation, and the costs of embracing it are surprisingly high. The goal of World without Design is to defend these two claims, with special attention to the second." "The first part of the book aims to provide a fair and historically informed characterization of naturalism. The second part argues for the striking thesis that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds. Rea concludes by examining two alternative research programs: intuitionism and supernaturalism, and argues for the conclusion that, under certain circumstances, intuitionism is self-defeating."--Jacket.

Subjects

• Ontology
• Naturalism
• Ontologie (filosofie)
• Naturalisme
• ontology (metaphysics)
• naturalism (philosophical movement)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-240) and index.

Contents

Naturalism -- Pillars of the tradition -- Naturalism characterized -- Ontology -- The discovery problem -- Proper function -- Pragmatic arguments -- What price anti-realism? -- Alternatives -- Intuitionism -- Supernaturalism.

ISBN

• 0199247609
• 9780199247608
• 0199247617
• 9780199247615

LCCN

2002020083

OCLC

• ocm48965135
• 48965135
• SCSB-9476435

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library