The Future for Philosophy - Softcover

Review from previous edition In putting together this collection, Brian Leiter showed the essential instincts of a good editor: find outstanding contributors and let them write on topics that engage them. Conversely, don't compromise on the quality of the pieces for the sake of the editorial architectonic. The result is a volume in which every paper is an excellent treatment of an important and interesting topic ... [a] remarkable achievement ... a very useful and highly stimulating account of what philosophy is and where it is going (Gary Gutting, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews)

Where does philosophy, the oldest academic subject, stand at the beginning of the new millennium? This remarkable volume brings together leading figures from most major branches of the discipline to offer answers.

What remains of the 'linguistic turn' in twentieth-century philosophy? How should moral philosophy respond to and incorporate developments in empirical psychology? Where might Continental and Anglophone feminist theory profitably interact? How has our understanding of ancient philosophy been affected by the emergence of analytic philosophy? Where does the mind-body problem stand today? What role must value judgments play in science? Do Marx, Nietzsche, or Freud matter in the 21st century?

These and many other questions at the cutting edge of the discipline are addressed by distinguished philosophers from Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States. They aim not only to stimulate philosophical debate, but to introduce those in cognate disciplines―-biology, classics, economics, history, law, linguistics, literary studies, mathematics, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, among others―- to what is happening in contemporary philosophy. In a substantial introduction, the editor gives an overview of the state of philosophy today and helps orient non-philosophers.