The Magic Prism : An Essay in the : An Essay in the Philosophy of Language, Riverside Howard Wettstein Professor of Philosophy University of California, Oxford University Press, 2004, 0198036426, 9780198036425, 256 pages. The late 20th century saw great movement in the philosophy of language, often critical of the fathers of the subject-Gottlieb Frege and Bertrand Russell-but sometimes supportive of (or even defensive about) the work of the fathers. Howard Wettstein's sympathies lie with the critics. But he says that they have often misconceived their critical project, treating it in ways that are technically focused and that miss the deeper implications of their revolutionary challenge. Wettstein argues that Wittgenstein-a figure with whom the critics of Frege and Russell are typically unsympathetic-laid the foundation for much of what is really revolutionary in this late 20th century movement. The subject itself should be of great interest, since philosophy of language has functioned as a kind of foundation for much of 20th century philosophy. But in fact it remains a subject for specialists, since the ideas are difficult and the mode of presentation is often fairly technical. In this book, Wettstein brings the non-specialist into the conversation (especially in early chapters); he also reconceives the debate in a way that avoids technical formulation. The Magic Prism is intended for professional philosophers, graduate students, and upper division undergraduates..

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The late 20th century saw great movement in the philosophy of language, often critical of the fathers of the subject--Gottlieb Frege and Bertrand Russell--but sometimes supportive of (or even defensive about) the work of the fathers. Howard Wettstein's sympathies lie with the critics. But he says that they have often misconceived their critical project, treating it in ways that are technically focused and that miss the deeper implications of their revolutionary challenge. Wettstein argues that Wittgenstein--a figure with whom the critics of Frege and Russell are typically unsympathetic--laid the foundation for much of what is really revolutionary in this late 20th century movement.

The subject itself should be of great interest, since philosophy of language has functioned as a kind of foundation for much of 20th century philosophy. But in fact it remains a subject for specialists, since the ideas are difficult and the mode of presentation is often fairly technical. In this book, Wettstein brings the non-specialist into the conversation (especially in early chapters); he also reconceives the debate in a way that avoids technical formulation. The Magic Prism is intended for professional philosophers, graduate students, and upper division undergraduates.

"Wettstein proposes to dissolve these puzzles by showing that our capacity to talk about things is ultimately mundane and bereft of mystery. His book is thus a unique attempt to combine a sophisticated historical and substantive discussion of reference with a loosely speaking Wittgensteinian perspective on language and Wittgensteinians have much to learn from the result. Wettstein is also one of those increasingly rare mainstream analytic philosophers to speak with a voice which is distinctive without being obtrusive, and to display how even highly récherché debates can profit from the occaisonal input of common sense and wisdom. Wettstein has provided a highly illuminating and thought-provoking anthropology of our practice of using words to refer to things. It provides the perfect antidote to the widespread tendency of distorting this practice because of theoretical fancies and l'art pour l'art technicalitites."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Howard Wettstein's The Magic Prism is an excellent book. Written by an established master in the philosophy of language who has made seminal contributions to the debates he discusses, it is at once eminently readable and philosophically challenging. The book draws its title from Walker Percy, who calls language "the magic prism" through which we come to perceive and know ourselves and our world (p. vii). Building on this idea, Wettstein argues throughout the book that in semantics, we should refrain from beginning with mysterious and inscrutable topics like "soul, mind, ideas, consciousness" and begin instead with language, which is available and undeniable (p. 62). If you want to understand language, don't try to get behind it, explaining it in veiled psychological terms; rather, take it as the starting point and describe the practices that enliven and sustain it.

The principal focus in the book is reference, and Wettstein spends most of his time defending the "direct reference revolution" against challenges from the Frege-Russell tradition and from the Kaplan-Perry direct reference apostasy. In the first two chapters, Wettstein supplies a nuanced account of the views on reference developed by the fathers of philosophical semantics, opening the book in a way that is reminiscent of Evans in Varieties of Reference. Chapters 3 and 4 find him adducing a compelling argument for considering the Kaplan-Perry approach to direct reference theory alongside the Frege-Russell tradition as targets for his critique, even given their significant differences.

These disparate approaches hold in common a picture of semantic reference that Wettstein calls "Linguistic Cartesianism" (p. 66). Roughly, this view involves commitment to the following theses: (a) reference depends on what is true of individual speakers, and in particular, whether they have a cognitive fix on the referent; (b) the cognitive fix is cashed out in terms of mental and linguistic representations; (c) the contribution of reference to linguistic significance must be understood in propositional terms, and (d) reference is a semantic relation to be explained in more fundamental, cognitive terms involving the contents of propositional attitudes.

The balance of the book, beginning with Chapters 4 and 5, presents a Wittgenstein-inspired approach to reference that involves the complete rejection of Linguistic Cartesianism. As Wettstein sees it, reference is a social phenomenon that can succeed even if speakers lack any sort of fix at all on the referent. Further, referring terms function within the social practice of reference as tags, working directly to connect speakers with the world without any representational or propositional intermediaries. These aspects of his view are summarized in his motto, "Linguistic contact without cognitive contact" (p. 75). Finally, as indicated above, reference is something to be described for Wettstein, not explained. This anti-explanationism is evinced in Chapters 6-9, in which he "dissolves" the puzzles of reference that have so exercised traditionalists. While I am uncertain about his treatment of explanation and propositions and I'm still not sure what his linguistic socialism amounts to, I have profited enormously from studying his analysis of the semantic debates and from reflecting on his own very stimulating perspective.

In my view, this is the best book on reference published in the last five years. It combines a careful critique of the analytic tradition in semantics with a provocative neo-Wittgensteinian account, thereby serving as a rich but somewhat surprising synthesis of the last 130 years of our business. For this reason, I highly recommend that you consider using it if you teach a philosophy of language course. In my experience, it has been tricky to work the later Wittgenstein into a philosophy of language course that focuses on the the Frege-Russell tradition in philosophical semantics---the Wittgenstein reading(s) has always seemed like a "now for something completely different" moment. But when I used this book in an upper-division philosophy of language class, it worked like alchemy, supplying a unified vision of how Wittgenstein relates to Frege, Russell, Kripke, Kaplan, and Perry. (And in so doing, it also helps us put together the Kripke of Naming and Necessity with the Kripke of Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, which is also helpful.) Read more ›

Professor Wettstein has written three books—The Significance of Religious Experience (Oxford University Press, 2012), The Magic Prism: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language (Oxford University Press, 2004) and Has Semantics Rested On a Mistake?, and Other Essays (Stanford University Press, 1991)—and a number of papers in the philosophy of language, for many years the focus of his research. During the last decade an additional focus has been the ; he has published on topics like religious experience, awe, the problem of evil, and the viability of philosophical theology. He is an Editor of Midwest Studies in Philosophy, and has edited a number of other volumes including Themes From Kaplan (Oxford University Press, 1989, co-edited) and Diasporas and Exiles (University of California Press, 2002).

“God’s Struggles,― in Michael Bergmann, Michael Murray, Michael Rea, eds., (Oxford University Press): Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham. This paper derives from “Concluding Remarks― I gave at the September 2009 conference at the University of Notre Dame, “My Ways Are Not Your Ways: The Character of the God of the Hebrew Bible.―

The department welcomed five new graduate students, Taylor Cyr, Maxwell McCoy, Micaela Quintana, Sam Richards and Carlos Ruiz, into the program at the annual Fall Welcome Luncheon. Faculty, staff, and continuing students gathered to meet and talk with the newest members of the UC Riverside Philosophy program. The group also welcomed visiting scholar, Marie Jayasekera, […] abstract actor anti-Fregean argue Aristotle asserted bearers Begriffsschrift belief reports Bismarck Cartesian chapter Cicero coherences collateral information conception counterexamples David Kaplan definite descriptions denotation discussion embedded sentence empty names entities epistemic example explain formulate Frege and Russell Frege's puzzle Frege's view Fregean senses Fregean thought fundamental Hesperus identity sentences indexicals indirect discourse informative identity intuition John Wayne Kaplan and Perry Kripke Kripke's linguistic practice Marion Morrison matter meaning Mill's Millian mind modes of presentation name-using practice natural notion object ordinary names perhaps philosophical philosophy of language Phosphorus picture pragmatic predicate problem proper names propositional content purely qualitative puzzle question Quine referential relation remarks representationalism representations rigid designation role Russell's Russellian seems semantic Sense and Reference sense-reference singular propositions singular terms someone sort speak speaker substitution suggest suppose talk theory things tion traditional truth and falsity truth values utterance Walker Percy Wittgenstein words

Howard K. Wettstein is Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the University Honors Program at the University of California, Riverside. He holds a B.A. degree in Philosophy from Yeshiva College, an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York. Wettstein has published two books, The Magic Prism: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language (2004) and Has Semantics Rested On a Mistake?, and Other Essays (1991) and a number of papers in the philosophy of language, for many years the focus of his research. During the last decade he has also worked in the philosophy of religion, publishing papers on topics like awe, doctrine, the problem of evil, and the viability of philosophical theology. He is currently at work on a book in the philosophy of religion. He is a senior editor (with Peter French) of Midwest Studies in Philosophy, and has edited a number of other volumes including Themes From Kaplan (1989, co-edited) and Diasporas and Exiles (2002)

Diaspora, considered as a context for insights into Jewish identity, brings together a lively, interdisciplinary group of scholars in this innovative volume. Readers needn't expect, however, to find easy agreement on what those insights are. The concept "diaspora" itself has proved controversial;galut,the traditional Hebrew expression for the Jews' perennial condition, is better translated as "exile." The very distinction between diaspora and exile, although difficult to analyze, is important enough to form the basis of several essays in this fine collection. "Identity" is an even more elusive concept. The contributors toDiasporas and Exilesexplore Jewish identity--or, more accurately, Jewish identities--from the mutually illuminating perspectives of anthropology, art history, comparative literature, cultural studies, German history, philosophy, political theory, and sociology. These contributors bring exciting new emphases to Jewish and cultural studies, as well as the emerging field of diaspora studies.Diasporas and Exilesmirrors the richness of experience and the attendant virtual impossibility of definition that constitute the challenge of understanding Jewish identity.

Analytic philosophy was born from philosophic reflection on logic and mathematics. It has been at its strongest in these and related domains of reflection, domains that are friendly to definition and analytic clarity. From time to time, analytic philosophers, some very distinguished, have produced fine work on literature and the arts. But these areas remain underexplored in the analytic tradition. This volume is focused upon language that does not fit within the usual analytic paradigms. It's highlights include two pieces of original poetry on philosophic subjects (by philosophers who are also published poets), and philosophic reflection on poetry, literature more generally, metaphor, and related subjects.

Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Volume XXIV, Life and Death: Metaphysics and Ethics is an important contribution to the literature on the intersection of issues of metaphysics and issues of ethics. In the Midwest Studies tradition, twenty of the more important philosophers writing in this area have contributed original papers that extend the boundaries of philosophical discussion of issues that are of both theoretical and practical concern to a wide-ranging audience. Topics considered include the concept of human life, the relationship between the concept of personal identity and the understanding of death, normative appraisals of death, capital punishment, euthanasia, the postponement of death and the impact of a theory of death and afterlife on one's ethical perspective.

In this volume leading contemporary philosophical historians of the Renaissance and Early Modern periods examine the works of important figures of the fifteenth through the eighteenth century. While Midwest Studies in Philosophy has produced other volumes devoted to historical periods in philosophy, this is the first to offer such extensive and focused original materials on specific crucial figures as this volume. Original papers by twenty contemporary philosophers writing about the works of the major philosophers of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth centuries This historically and philosophically broad collection extends from such fifteenth century figures as Ficino, Machiavelli, and Pompanazzi to the work of Montesquieu in the eighteenth century

This Volume illuminates the notion of meaning in the arts-in literature, painting, music, and dance. Specific topics include theory in the arts; interpretations of meaning; objectivity in meaning; and the consumer as a participant in art. Brings together articles from prominent philosophers and practitioners of the arts, which illuminate the notion of meaning in the arts. Addresses meaning in literature, painting, music, and dance. Explores the relationship between authorial intentions and the viewer's interpretation of meaning; the possibility (or impossibility) of objective meaning; and the role of the consumer as a participant in the work of art. http://edufb.net/483.pdf http://edufb.net/897.pdf http://edufb.net/398.pdf http://edufb.net/43.pdf http://edufb.net/322.pdf http://edufb.net/471.pdf http://edufb.net/289.pdf http://edufb.net/235.pdf http://edufb.net/520.pdf http://edufb.net/689.pdf http://edufb.net/709.pdf http://edufb.net/251.pdf