Analytic philosophy. An anthology. (English) Zbl 1033.00007

Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies 13. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers (ISBN 0-631-21647-2/pbk; 0-631-21646-4/hbk). x, 517 p. (2001).

This anthology combines 46 classical texts from the history of analytical philosophy. It supplements the “Companion of analytic philosophy” [Oxford, Blackwell Publishers (2001; Zbl 1017.00005)] done by the same editors. This companion also allows to close some gaps in fields of analytical philosophy not covered in this anthology. The material is organized in seven sections: philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, freedom and personal identity, ethics, and methodology. Logic and the philosophy of mathematics are missing.
Following their practice in the companion, the editors do not define analytical philosophy by doctrine or method: “Different philosophers of the period have held opposed positions and employed various methods, difficult to enumerate or to describe” (p. 1). The editors prefer a historical approach seeing the origins of analytical philosophy in G.E. Moore’s challenge of British Idealism, but even more in “Anglo-German” or “Anglo-American” (M. Dummett) branches, represented, e.g., by G. Frege and the Vienna Circle. Driving forces are seen in W.V.O. Quine’s attack on foundational positions in conceptual analysis, ordinary language approaches of the Oxford School, and L. Wittgenstein’s influence in Cambridge.
Reviewer’s comment: The reasons for omitting full bibliographical data for texts in this anthology remain in the dark. Copyright information is given, of course, but the reader only learns that, e.g., the opening paper by G. Frege on sense and reference had previously published in P. Geach’s and M. Black’s [Oxford, Blackwells Publisher (1952; Zbl 0048.00102)], but not that the original German version had already been published in 1892. He finds 9 pages of G. E. Moore’s “Principia ethica”, but no information which pages of the more than 200 of the 1903 original have been taken. So the reader is faced with a paradoxical situation in analytical philosophy. While celebrating its glorious history by reprinting classical landmark papers it remains a-historical by treating these text as if they were published in a recent journal. In a certain sense analytical philosophy follows the practise of its philosophical counterpart, continental philosophy, according to which philosophy is the everlasting dialogue between great philosophers (K. Jaspers).

Reviewer: Volker Peckhaus (Paderborn)

MSC:

00A30	Philosophy of mathematics
03A05	Philosophical and critical aspects of logic and foundations
00B15	Collections of articles of miscellaneous specific interest

Keywords:

analysis; analytical philosophy; anthology

Citations:

Zbl 1017.00005; Zbl 0048.00102