Nicholas Rescher

In this important collection, distinguished philosopher Nicholas Rescher explores a variety of issues significant to contemporary philosophers. The essays fall into three interrelated groups. The first group surveys key aspects of the recent scene in philosophy in a retrospective mood that is appropriate as the century nears its close. The second group is a critical examination of a conception— that of 'possible worlds'— which has played an important formative role in 20th century philosophy. The final group presents some philosophical reflections on the human condition viewed from the vantage point of concepts which 20th century philosophy has placed in the foreground of philosophical concern. Varied yet cohesive, these reflections on issues of contemporary philosophy are important reading for anyone interested in the state and direction of the discipline

FOR PLATO, PRINCIPLES WERE THE ROOT-SOURCE of being or of knowledge. For Aristotle, they were the “first cause” of being, of becoming, or of being known. Much the same conception is at issue in Thomas of Aquinas, for whom a principle was something primary in the being of a thing, or in its becoming, or in knowledge of it. As standard philosophical usage has evolved in the light of these ideas, a principle is as something basic—as a fundamentum or archê. It either admits no proof or it needs not proof. Moreover, it must be abstract by way of applying to a broad range of cases. Thus, all concerned seem agreed that principles are fundamental generalities governing our understanding of the modus operandi of some knowledge-accessible domain.