ABSTRACT
The central question of naturalism - the relation of philosophy to science - was one of the defining strands of twentieth-century thought and remains a major source of debate and controversy. Today many argue that philosophy should fold itself into the sciences, especially the natural sciences. Liberal naturalists argue that such scientific naturalism demands reductive and Procrustean conceptions of knowledge and reality. Moreover, many philosophical problems are beyond the scope of the sciences, such as the nature of persons, the normativity of the space of reasons, and how best to understand the peculiar mix of objectivity and subjectivity of ethics and art.
The Routledge Handbook of Liberal Naturalism is the first collection to present a comprehensive overview of liberal naturalism, a philosophical outlook that lies between scientific naturalism and supernaturalism. Comprising 37 chapters by an international team of contributors, it examines important cutting-edge topics including:
- what is liberal naturalism?
- is metaphysics a viable project?
- naturalism in the history of philosophy, including Hume, Dewey, and Quine
- contemporary liberal naturalists such as P.F. Strawson, John McDowell, Hilary Putnam, and John Rawls
- related kinds of naturalism, including subject naturalism, common-sense naturalism and biological naturalism
- the bearing of liberal naturalism on contemporary debates in epistemology, philosophy of mind, ethics and aesthetics.
Essential reading for students and researchers in all areas of philosophy, this volume will be of particular interest for those studying philosophical naturalism, philosophy of science, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, ethics and aesthetics.
Introduction Mario De Caro and David Macarthur Part 1: Historical Naturalisms and their Relation to Liberal Naturalism 1. Aristotle and Liberal Naturalism Riccardo Chiaradonna 2. Spinoza and Liberal Naturalism Alex Douglas 3. Hume and Liberal Naturalism Benedict Smith 4. Kant on Nature and Humanity Allen Wood 5. Nietzsche’s Naturalism: Neither Liberal Nor Illiberal Brian Leiter 6. Husserlian Phenomenology and Liberal Naturalism Andrea Staiti 7. Merleau-Ponty and Liberal Naturalism Jack Reynolds 8. Classical Pragmatism and Liberal Naturalism Steven Levine Part 2: Theoretical Cousins of Liberal Naturalism 9. Quine’s Naturalism: Neither "Reductive" Nor "Liberal" Garry Ebbs 10. Wilfrid Sellars and Liberal Naturalism Willem De Vries 11. Foot and Liberal Naturalism Gabriele De Anna 12. Bernard Williams’s Liberal Naturalism Sophie-Grace Chappell 13. Price’s Subject Naturalism and Liberal Naturalism Lionel Shapiro 14. Relaxed Naturalism: A Liberating Philosophy of Nature Dan Hutto 15. Liberal or Radical Naturalism Joseph Rouse 16. Naturalism as a Stance Jack Ritchie Part 3: Challenges for Liberal Naturalism 17. Pluralistic Realism and Liberal Naturalism Mario De Caro 18. Liberal Naturalism and God Fiona Ellis 19. Taylor and Liberal Naturalism Nicholas Smith 20. Can Selves be Naturalized? The Problem of Temporal Perspective Patrick Stokes 21. Liberal Naturalism, Ontological Commitment and Explanation Matteo Morganti 22. Naturalism with Chinese Characteristics Barry Allen Part 4: Applications of Liberal Naturalism 23. Aesthetics and Liberal Naturalism: Art Up Close and Personal David Macarthur 24. Liberal Naturalism, Aesthetic Reflection and the Sublime Jennifer McMahon 25. Philosophy of Perception and Liberal Naturalism Thomas Raleigh 26. Ethics and Liberal Naturalism Hans Fink 27. Kantian Constitutivism and the Naturalistic Challenge Carla Bagnoli 28. The Rational Wolf: Moral Philosophy as Key to McDowell’s Liberal Naturalism Sofia Miguens 29. Rawls and Liberal Naturalism Paul Patton 30. Scientific Naturalism and Normative Explanation Robert Audi 31. Scientism and Liberal Naturalism Massimo Pigliucci 32. Liberal Naturalism and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis Talia Morag 33. Actualism as a Form of Liberal Naturalism Paul Redding 34. Critical Naturalism for the Human Sciences Daniel Andler 35. Jürgen Habermas and Liberal Naturalism Paul Giladi 36. Strawson and Non-Revisionary Naturalism Hans-Johan Glock 37. Hilary Putnam and Liberal Naturalism Massimo Dell’Utri. Index
