Simplicity affords a new way of thinking about philosophical matters.
In this book, the dualistic, true/false approach of formal logic is
replaced by a three-part basis for thought. This basis consists of the
simplicity categories of reason: simplicity, complexity, and
nothingness. The category of simplicity is paradoxical, that of
complexity is unproblematic, and that of nothingness is
self-contradictory. These categories are to be applied to ontological
categories, such as those of substance, self, or causality, thereby
providing a clarification of the philosophical issue in question. The
notion of perspective is integral to the simplicity way of thinking. A
particular entity − such as the self − may be conceived as simple
in one perspective, while being complex or nothing in another.
Combined with the categories of simplicity, the notion of perspective
is used to reveal a type of conceptual conflict that differs from
contradiction. So, for example, the simplicity way of thinking better
represents the relation between competing scientific theories − such
as the wave and particle theories of radiation − as a form of
perspectival incompatibility, rather than contradiction. From this
basis, the book moves on to the distinction between two forms of
simplicity: analytic and synthetic, which can respectively be
conceived of as a point, and as a whole. Again the notion of
perspective is employed: what is analytically simple in one
perspective may well be synthetically simple in another. The
application of the simplicity way of thinking to philosophy (as well
as to other areas, such as mathematics and physics), of which there
are many examples in this book, enhances our understanding by
illuminating the conceptual relations involved in intellectually
problematic situations.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780739177242
Publisert
2015
Utgiver
Vendor
Lexington Books
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter