Reason, Truth and Reality

Description

Dan Goldstick's Reason, Truth, and Reality addresses two questions: what sort of world do we inhabit? and what moral obligations do we have? To answer the questions Goldstick mounts a bold contemporary defense of pre-Kantian rationalism. Basing consideration upon a characterization of reason in its deductive, inductive, and ethical functioning, he asks what must hold good for reason so characterized to be a dependable guide to truth. The conclusions Goldstick draws are threefold. First of all, the argument points to continuous deterministic causality throughout space and time. In the second place, a case is made for universal impermanence. And thirdly, Goldstick claims to establish a basis for the right within a version of utilitarianism supporting the maximum long-term promotion of people's interests. The discussion takes in such traditional rationalist themes as aprioricity, conceivability, and antiscepticism, and such analytic topics as belief-and-desire, truthvaluelessness, and epistemic reliability. Frontmatter Contents Preface 1. Introduction 2. On Moore’s Paradox 3. On Factuality 4. On the Canons of Deductive Inference 5. Preliminary Assault on the Philosophy of Empiricism 6. Preliminary Considerations 7. Sensationalism 8. Naturalism 9. Inductivism 10. Pragmatism 11. Nihilism, Scepticism, and Decisionism 12. Possibility, Probability, Negation, and Change 13. Causality and Impermanence 14. Simplicity 15. How to Reason Inductively 16. The Case for Universal Impermanence 17. That Determinism Is Incontrovertible 18. The Pitfall of Metaphysics 19. Preliminary Considerations 20. Sensationalism 21. Naturalism 22. Inductivism 23. Pragmatism 24. Nihilism, Scepticism, and Decisionism 25. Ethics and Induction 26. Mores 27. ‘Consciencelessness’ 28. Utility 29. Comparing Utilities 30. Population 31. ‘Hypocrisy’ Stipulatively Defined 32. Utilitarianism Proved 33. Conclusion - We Each Sit in Judgment Appendix 1 - ‘Tautology’ Appendix 2 - ‘Desire’ Index