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9Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2002.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…Read more
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41A father of the revolutionPhilosophical Perspectives 13 443-457. 1999.When I was a graduate student in the late 60’s, Wittgenstein was very fashionable. Remarks like “meaning is use” rolled off one’s tongue as easily as “Hell no, we won’t go,” or “It’s not the case that necessarily the number of planets is greater than seven.” I vowed to avoid the Philosophical Investigations , and I was true to my vow until some years later when a friend commented that my approach to indexicals..
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48Terra FirmaThe Monist 78 (4): 425-446. 1995.I have long felt that graduate education in philosophy, when successful, produces in its beneficiaries a strong antipathy, almost an allergic reaction, to “ism” words. “Naturalism,” nevertheless, is not one that is easy to eschew. This is not because of anything like a widely shared or especially intuitive doctrine associated with the term. The numerous doctrines offered by way of characterization often seem either suspicious because of their strength, or else platitudinous, too easy and not suf…Read more
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7Moral Concepts. 1996.This work presents 26 essays that address the issue of moral concepts. Many of the essays contain examples that should make this volume suitable for teaching moral concepts in a college or university.
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6Midwest Studies in Philosophy, the American Philosophers (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2004.The American Philosophers contains papers by current leading philosophers and political theorists that explore the work of the major American philosophers from the colonial period to the present, from Jonathan Edwards to David Kaplan. Contains a philosophically and historically broad exploration of the major schools of American philosophy Examines both the pragmatists and the later Twentieth Century analytic philosophers, as well as such shapers of the political and philosophical American scene …Read more
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52Frege‐Russell Semantics?Dialectica 44 (1‐2): 113-135. 1990.Contemporary semantical discussions make mention of the traditional approach to semantics represented by Frege and/or Russell--even sometimes by Frege-Russell. Is there a Frege-Russell view in the philosophy of language? How much of a common semantical perspective did Frege and Russell share? The matter bears exploration. I begin with Frege and Russell on propositions.
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24Studies in epistemology (edited book)University of Minnesota Press. 1980.This is Volume V in the series Midwest Studies in Philosophy In 1979 the University of Minnesota Press assumed publication of the annual Midwest Studies in ...
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38DoctrineFaith and Philosophy 14 (4): 423-443. 1997.I argue that theological doctrine, the output of philosophical theology, is not a natural tool for thinking about biblical/rabbinic Judaism. Fundamental to my argument is the claim that there is a tension between constellations of theological doctrine of medieval vintage and the primary religious literature---the Hebrew Bible as understood through, and supplemented by, the Rabbis of the Talmud. This tension is a product of the genesis of philosophical theology, the application of Greek philosoph…Read more
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8Philosophical Naturalism. 1994.In recent years naturalism has become a focal point in the discussions of many contemporary philosophers. Philosophical Naturalism in the series Midwest Studies in Philosophy offers a broad sampling of previously unpublished essays that represent the current status of discussions of naturalism.
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2Against theologyIn Charles Harry Manekin & Robert Eisen (eds.), Philosophers and the Jewish Bible, University Press of Maryland. 2008.project. Their voices, though, have been dimmed by current theological orthodoxy--I don’t mean denominational Orthodoxy but rather the standard modes of theological thought bequeathed by the medievals. Developments in philosophy—like the work of Wittgenstein—suggest that the time may be ripe for another pass through the terrain.
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25The Significance of Religious ExperienceModern Schoolman 86 (3-4): 381-398. 2009.This book is collection of published and unpublished essays on the philosophy of religion by Howard Wettstein
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13Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Figurative Language (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2001.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 hi…Read more
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Wittgenstein speaks of the fog that surrounds the workings of language. Our ways of thinking about reference contribute generously to the fog. While a full discussion would constitute a book-length project, my aims here are quite limited. I want to have a look at the idea that reference is a relation between a piece of language and a piece of reality. The idea might seem unexceptional and unexceptionable; names, for example, name things, and “relation” seems just right. But there is casual relat…Read more
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5The philosophy of language has emerged in the 20th century as a fundamental area of philosophic inquiry. It is unquestionably central to research in many other areas, and some have even suggested that it should now be seen as the foundation of philosophy.
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108Awe and the Religious Life: A Naturalistic PerspectiveMidwest Studies in Philosophy 21 (1): 257-280. 1997.
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59Forgiveness and Moral ReckoningPhilosophia 38 (3): 445-455. 2010.Charles Griswold’s seminal work, Forgiveness, is the focus of the present essay. Following Griswold, I distinguish the relevant virtue of character from something that is more like an act or process. The paper discusses a number of hesitations I have about Griswold’s analysis, at the level both of detail and of underlying conception
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7Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Meaning in the Arts (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2003.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 v…Read more
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101The magic prism: an essay in the philosophy of languageOxford University Press. 2004.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 Wit…Read more
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20Midwest Studies in Philosophy. Vol. 16, Philosophy and the ArtsJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 51 (3): 519-521. 1993.
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Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Philosophy and the Empirical (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2007.This collection of essays focuses on a current issue of central important in contemporary philosophy, the relationship between philosophy and empirical studies. Explores in detail a range of examples which demonstrate how the older paradigm – philosophy as conceptual analysis – is giving way to a more varied set of models of philosophical work Each of the featured papers is a previously unpublished contribution by a major scholar
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504Themes From Kaplan (edited book)Oxford University Press. 1989.This anthology of essays on the work of David Kaplan, a leading contemporary philosopher of language, sprang from a conference, "Themes from Kaplan," organized by the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University.
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1The Foundations of Analytic Philosophy (review)Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press. 1981.
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• When one reflects on the range of actual cases in which forgiveness seems appropriate, it’s really a subset of them that involve moral wrongdoing. When one thinks of the domestic context, e.g., where forgiveness, apology, and the like are very common, painfully common, much of what is at issue are not serious moral wrongs but rather slights, insensitivities like inappropriate tones of voice (sometimes even marginally so). Or consider philosopher’s reactions to the slights involved in how their…Read more
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