Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary ...

[Pages:422]Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy

Kwame Anthony Appiah

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Thinking It Through

Thinking It Through

AN INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY P H I LO S O P H Y

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi S?o Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright ? 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 0?19?516028?2

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

Preface ix

Introduction: A Few Preliminaries xi

CHAPTER 1: MIND 1 1.1 Introduction. 1. 1.2 Descartes: The beginnings of modern philosophy of mind. 5. 1.3 The private-language argument. 12. 1.4 Computers as models of

the mind. 19. 1.5 Why should there be a functionalist theory? 22. 1.6 Functionalism: A first problem. 23. 1.7 A simple-minded functionalist

theory of pain. 25. 1.8 Ramsey's solution to the first problem. 26. 1.9 Functionalism: A second problem. 28. 1.10 M again. 29. 1.11 Consciousness.

31. 1.12 The puzzle of the physical. 36. 1.13 Conclusion. 37.

CHAPTER 2: KNOWLEDGE 39 2.1 Introduction. 39. 2.2 Plato: Knowledge as justified true belief. 41. 2.3 Descartes' way: Justification requires certainty. 44. 2.4 Locke's way: Justification can be less than certain. 53. 2.5 The foundations of knowledge. 57. 2.6 Ways around skepticism I: Verificationism. 61. 2.7 Ways around skepticism II: Causal theories of knowledge. 66. 2.8 Causal theories contrasted with traditional accounts of justification. 70. 2.9 Epistemology naturalized. 74.

2.10 Conclusion. 77.

CHAPTER 3: LANGUAGE 79 3.1 Introduction. 79. 3.2 The linguistic turn. 80. 3.3 The beetle in the box. 84. 3.4 Frege's "sense" and "reference." 87. 3.5 Predicates and open

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sentences. 92. 3.6 Problems of intensionality. 96. 3.7 Truth conditions and possible worlds. 99. 3.8 Analytic-synthetic and necessary-contingent. 102.

3.9 Natural language and logical form. 106. 3.10 Using logic: Truth preservation, probability, and the lottery paradox. 113. 3.11 Logical truth

and logical properties. 115. 3.12 Conventions of language. 117. 3.13 The paradox of analysis. 120. 3.14 Conclusion. 124.

CHAPTER 4: SCIENCE 127

4.1 Introduction. 127. 4.2 Description and prescription. 129. 4.3 An example: Gregor Mendel's genetic theory. 130. 4.4 Theory and observation. 136.

4.5 The received view of theories. 141. 4.6 The deductive-nomological model of explanation. 145. 4.7 Theory reduction and instrumentalism. 148.

4.8 Theory-ladenness. 152. 4.9 Justifying theories I: The problem of induction. 157. 4.10 Goodman's new riddle of induction. 161. 4.11 Justifying theories II: Popper and falsification. 163. 4.12 Justifying theories III: Inference to the best

explanation. 167. 4.13 Laws and causation. 171. 4.14 Conclusion. 174.

CHAPTER 5: MORALITY 177

5.1 Introduction. 177. 5.2 Facts and values. 180. 5.3 Realism and emotivism. 183. 5.4 Intuitionism. 187. 5.5 Emotivism again. 191. 5.6 Kant's universalizability principle. 197. 5.7 Dealing with relativism. 201. 5.8 Prescriptivism and supervenience. 204. 5.9 Problems of utilitarianism I: Defining "utility." 205. 5.10 Problems of utilitarianism II: Consequentialism versus absolutism. 208.

5.11 Rights. 213. 5.12 Self and others. 215. 5.13 Conclusion. 217.

CHAPTER 6: POLITICS 221

6.1 Introduction. 221. 6.2 Hobbes: Escaping the state of nature. 224. 6.3 Problems for Hobbes. 229. 6.4 Game theory I: Two-person zero-sum games. 232. 6.5 Game theory II: The prisoners' dilemma. 242. 6.6 The limits of prudence. 245. 6.7 Rawls's theory of justice. 248. 6.8 The difference principle and inequality surpluses. 250. 6.9 Criticizing Rawls I: The structure of

his argument. 252. 6.10 Criticizing Rawls II: Why maximin? 254. 6.11 Criticizing Rawls III: The status of the two principles. 256. 6.12 Reflective equilibrium. 258. 6.13 Are the two principles right? 260.

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6.14 Nozick: Beginning with rights. 261. 6.15 The entitlement theory. 265. 6.16 Ethics and politics. 267. 6.17 Conclusion. 269.

CHAPTER 7: LAW 271

7.1 Introduction. 271. 7.2 Defining "law" I: Positivism and natural law. 275.

7.3 Defining "law" II: Legal systems and the variety of laws. 278.

7.4 Hart: The elements of a legal system. 280. 7.5 Punishment: The problem. 285.

7.6 Justifying punishment: Deterrence. 286. 7.7 Retributivism: Kant's

objections. 288. 7.8 Combining deterrence and retribution. 289.

7.9 Deterrence theory again. 291. 7.10 Why do definitions matter? 293.

7.11 Conclusion. 296.

CHAPTER 8: METAPHYSICS 299

8.1 Introduction. 299. 8.2 An example: The existence of numbers. 300. 8.3 "God" as a proper name. 305. 8.4 The necessary being. 310. 8.5 Hume: No a priori proofs of matters of fact. 316. 8.6 Kant: "Existence" is not a predicate.

317. 8.7 A posteriori arguments. 322. 8.8 The argument from design 324. 8.9 The harmony of nature. 325. 8.10 The necessity of a creative intelligence. 329.

8.11 Hume's argument from design: The argument from experience. 331. 8.12 The problem of evil and inference to the best explanation. 334. 8.13 Conclusion. 337.

CHAPTER 9: PHILOSOPHY 339

9.1 Introduction. 339. 9.2 Traditional thought. 341. 9.3 Arguing with the Azande. 344. 9.4 The significance of literacy. 349. 9.5 Cognitive relativism. 353. 9.6 The argument against strong relativism. 355. 9.7 The argument for weak

relativism. 357. 9.8 Philosophy and religion. 360. 9.9 Philosophy and science. 364. 9.10 An example: Free will and determinism. 365.

9.11 Compatibilism and moral responsibility. 373. 9.12 The special character of philosophy. 377. 9.13 Conclusion. 379.

Notes 381

Index 393

PREFACE

You learn a lot about your subject when you set out to introduce the range of it to people who are approaching it for the first time. That is a good part of the reason I set out to write an introduction to contemporary philosophy. After a while, as you do the detailed work of professional research, you risk losing sight of the forest for the trees. Stepping back for a bit, to think again about the shape of the subject and where your own work fits into it, allows you not just to rediscover connections but also to make new ones. That is why undergraduate teaching is so invigorating.

What I have tried to write is a reliable and systematic introduction to the central questions of current philosophical interest in the English-speaking world. (I have also pursued some less mainstream questions because I think they should be more mainstream!) A philosophy textbook can't be a record of current answers to the central questions, because philosophy is as much about deepening our understanding of a question as it is about finding an answer. So my task has been to prepare the reader to enter into contemporary debates by delineating the conceptual territory within which the many answers currently in play are located. I hope I have succeeded in making it possible for a newcomer to navigate that territory and that I have also made the navigation seem engaging, for that will mean that some of my readers will want to read more deeply in the subject. An introduction can be the beginning of a lifelong romance.

I find I have now taught philosophy on three continents, and it is astonishing how the same questions arise in such culturally disparate circumstances. I am grateful to all of my students, in Ghana, in England, and in the United States: Almost every one of them has taught me a new argument or--what is much the same--shown me an old one in a new light. This book is dedicated to them.

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