Childhood and the philosophy of education

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Mortimer J. Adler

"Adler traces 'in the simplest language and with occasional modern analogues, the logic and growth of Aristotle's basic doctrines.'" Publ Wkly "Aristotle taught logic to Alexander the Great and, by virtue of his philosophical works, to every philosopher since, from Marcus Aurelius, to Thomas Aquinas, to Mortimer J. Adler. Now Aler instructs the world in the 'uncommon common sense' of Aristotelian logic, presenting Aristotle's understandings in a current, delightfully lucid way ... Adler offers us a unique path to personal insights and understanding of intangibles, such as the difference between wants and needs, the proper way to pursue happiness, and the right plan for a good life."

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Bruce Aune

Contemporary philosophy is marked by a setting aside or dissolution of the traditional problems of modern philosophy. Thus the problem of our knowledge of the external world is widely believed to have been disposed of or dissolved by Wittgenstein and others. In this book, Bruce Aune challenges this assumption. In the first half of Knowledge of the External World, Aune considers the history of the problem in the work of the great modern philosophers, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Kant, and Mill. Then turning to current debates, he argues that the problem has re-emerged and that an entirely new approach is needed. By examining the attempted dissolutions, Aune shows that the fundamental problem remains as a serious intellectual issue: one concerning the nature of permissible experimental or `inductive' inference. To resolve this issue, he undertakes a revision of empiricist epistemology and the development of the required theory of inference. Knowledge of the External World is an excellent historical systematic analysis of a central problem of philosophy and a fine introduction to the theory of knowledge. It will be essential reading for students of epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy -- Publisher's description.

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Catherine Lim

The author portrays herself as dead and lying in her coffin. During the three days before the final consignment to dust and oblivion, as friends, relatives, ex-colleagues, fans, lovers and total strangers come to pay their respects, she indulges, for the last time, her love of story-telling. Around each visitor she weaves a dazzling tale with her usual exuberant wit, comic brio and warm empathy. But the tales are more than just that. They are the triggering points for what is the central concern of this book - the exploration of those achingly urgent human questions that everyone asks at some time or other in his or her life: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? Why are we here at all? What is our conception of god in an age of undisputed scientific power? How should we view good and evil, pain and suffering? Is there such a thing as Ultimate Truth? What does it mean to be human?

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O.K. Bouwsma

"Edited and introduced by Ronald E. Hustwit and J. L. Craft. This edition of collected remarks (from the many thousands of pages of notebooks from 1950 to 1978) reflect Bouwsma's concern with the role of philosophy in education, particularly liberal arts education and the role of reading literature in it. Entries on these and related subjects reflect Bouwsma's engagement with Wittgenstein - his conversations with him and his reading of Wittegenstein's philosophy. Over his fifty year teaching career, Bouwsma frequently discussed the value of teaching and studying literature, and kept track of such discussions in his notebooks. His views on this subject were always controversial and guaranteed a lively discussion. The editors have also included some additional general discussions of what a university education is, and some of his commentaries on contemporary society."--BOOK JACKET.