Table of Contents

Modern Philosophy1. The Nature of Philosophy
2. Scepticism
3. Some More-isms
4. Self, Mind and Body
5. The Private Language Argument
6. Sense and Reference
7. Descriptions and Logical Form
8. Things and Properties
9. Truth
10. Appearance and Reality
11. God
12. Being
13. Necessity and the a priori
14. Cause
15. Science
16. The Soul
17. Freedom
18. The Human World
19. Meaning
20. Morality
21. Life, Death and Identity
22. Knowledge
23. Perception
24. Imagination
25. Space and Time
26. Mathematics
27. Paradox
28. Objective Spirit
29. Subjective Spirit
30. The Devil
31. Self and Other
Study Guide
Index

About the Author

Roger Scruton is the author of a number of books, including Modern Philosophy and A Short History of Philosophy. Formerly Professor of Aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London University, and a visiting professor at Boston University, he lives in Wiltshire, England.

Reviews

This extensive survey of topics in modern philosophy as taught in English-speaking universities consists of two parts, about 500 and 100 pages, respectively. The former is the text that presents the ideas, theses, and arguments themselves; and the latter is a study guide that elucidates details, suggests topics for discussion, and names readings that expand the main text. The book is clearly written and well proportioned. By choosing sensibly which complexities to ignore, Scruton (The Classical Vernacular, St. Martin's, 1995) explains material no more technically and at no greater length than is necessary for nonprofessional readers to get the hang of it. Unfortunately, his penchant for making invidious remarks occasionally mars his exposition, but readers who inure themselves to this habit will cease to be distracted. Recommended for large public libraries and for academic philosophy collections.-Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY