Peter Unger is Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He is the author of Ignorance (OUP 1975, 2002), Identity, Consciousness, and Value (OUP 1990), and Living High and Letting Die (1996)
"Current debates about contextualism in epistemology begin with
Philosophical Relativity, where Unger gives the term
'contextualism' the meaning that, in many philosophical circles, it
enjoys today, and gives the position designated by the term its
first serious and systematic treatment. Few are likely to accept
Unger's 'relativistic' conclusion that the advantages and
disadvantages of contextualism and its rival, invariantism, balance
out in such a
way that there simply is no fact of the matter which is the correct
theory, but all who want to think seriously about the issue should
confront the challenging arguments in this seminal book."--Keith
DeRose,
Yale University
"If you didn't read this book first time, read it now. It packs a
punch fit to stop a whole school of philosophy dead in its tracks,
with no guarantee that it will ever move again. Those who think
that a philosophical inquiry has to start with a decision about the
exact meanings of the key terms need to work out their answer to
this one from Peter Unger."--Edward Craig, Cambridge University
"Philosophical Relativity is a seminal text in the debate on
contextualism, which blames philosophical problems on the hidden
dependence of meaning on context. Unger's questions are even more
urgent today than when he wrote."--Timothy Williamson, Oxford
University
"First-rate philosophy, philosophy as it ought to be
done."--Gilbert Harman, Princeton University
"OUP has done well to reissue Peter Unger's books in epistemology,
both Ignorance and Philosophical Relativity Unger follows the
argument to great depth, wherever it may lead, and the reader who
follows along will be amply rewarded, which shows how impressively
fresh and relevant this work remains after all these
years."--Ernest Sosa, Brown University
"In his last book, Peter Unger set out to persuade us of a
thorough-going skepticism; in the present one, he sets out to
persuade us that it is fundamentally indeterminate whether (for
example) the thorough-going skeptic of the person of common sense
is right. But even if this is his newest doctrinal anarchism, there
is nothing anarchic about the style of Philosophical Relativity.
The argument is well-organized, and the exposition is lucid. Nor
is
there anything bombastic in Unger's medium to match his would-be
devastating message; the reader is coaxed along gently but
persistently."--Jennifer Hornsby, University of London
"This is an intelligent and highly original critique, clearly and
even gracefully written, with a refreshing absence of
pedantry."--Sir Peter Strawson, Oxford University
"If you didn't read this book first time, read it now. It packs a
punch fit to stop a whole school of philosophy dead in its tracks,
with no guarantee that it will ever move again. Those who think
that a philosophical inquiry has to start with a decision about the
exact meanings of the key terms need to work out their answer to
this one from Peter Unger."--Edward Craig, Cambridge University
"Philosophical Relativity is a seminal text in the debate on
contextualism, which blames philosophical problems on the hidden
dependence of meaning on context. Unger's questions are even more
urgent today than when he wrote."--Timothy Williamson, Oxford
University
"OUP has done well to reissue Peter Unger's books in epistemology,
both Ignorance and Philosophical Relativity. Unger follows the
argument to great depth, wherever it may lead, and the reader who
follows along will be amply rewarded, which shows how impressively
fresh and relevant this work remains after all these
years."--Ernest Sosa, Brown University
"This is an intelligent and highly original critique, clearly and
even gracefully written, with a refreshing absence of
pedantry."--Sir Peter Strawson, Oxford University
"First-rate philosophy, philosophy as it ought to be
done."--Gilbert Harman, Princeton University
"In his last book, Peter Unger set out to persuade us of a
thorough-going skepticism; in the present one, he sets out to
persuade us that it is fundamentally indeterminate whether (for
example) the thorough-going skeptic of the person of common sense
is right. But even if this is his newest doctrinal anarchism, there
is nothing anarchic about the style of Philosophical Relativity.
The argument is well-organized, and the exposition is lucid. Nor
is
there anything bombastic in Unger's medium to match his would-be
devastating message; the reader is coaxed along gently but
persistently."--Jennifer Hornsby, University of London
"Current debates about contextualism in epistemology begin with
Philosophical Relativity, where Unger gives the term
'contextualism' the meaning that, in many philosophical circles, it
enjoys today, and gives the position designated by the term its
first serious and systematic treatment. Few are likely to accept
Unger's 'relativistic' conclusion that the advantages and
disadvantages of contextualism and its rival, invariantism, balance
out in such a
way that there simply is no fact of the matter which is the correct
theory, but all who want to think seriously about the issue should
confront the challenging arguments in this seminal book."--Keith
DeRose,
Yale University
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