Common Minds: Themes from the Philosophy of Philip PettitGeoffrey Brennan, Robert Goodin, Frank Jackson, Michael Smith Clarendon Press, 2007 M05 24 - 368 pages During a career spanning over thirty years Philip Pettit has made seminal contributions in moral philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of mind and action, and metaphysics. His many contributions would be remarkable enough in themselves, but they are made all the more remarkable by the ways in which Pettit connects them with each other. Pettit holds that the lessons learned when thinking about problems in one area of philosophy often constitute ready-made solutions to problems we faced in completely different areas. His body of work taken as a whole provides a vivid example of what philosophy looks like when done with that conviction. Common Minds presents specially written papers by some of the most eminent philosophers alive today, grappling with some of the themes derived from the larger programme that Pettit has inspired. How are we to do the best we can, whether in the domain of morality or politics, given that we are non-ideal agents acting in non-ideal circumstances? What is the normative significance of the capacity we have to engage in rational deliberation, both individually and collectively, about what to do? How are we to square our conception of ourselves as rational deliberators with the more mechanistic conception of ourselves and the world we inhabit that we get from the natural sciences? The volume concludes with a substantial piece by Pettit in which he gives an overview of his work, draws out the connections between its key themes, and provides a rich commentary on the preceding essays. |
From inside the book
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Page vii
... context of a more comprehensive overview. Draft versions of many of the chapters were first delivered at a conference held in Philip's honour at the Australian National University in 2003. Thanks the Research School of Social Sciences ...
... context of a more comprehensive overview. Draft versions of many of the chapters were first delivered at a conference held in Philip's honour at the Australian National University in 2003. Thanks the Research School of Social Sciences ...
Page 9
... context is biological design, and this is the way in which Pettit thinks of it: 'we may readily assume 10 The claim that the identity of instances guarantees the causal efficacy of the higher-order property is defended below, but was ...
... context is biological design, and this is the way in which Pettit thinks of it: 'we may readily assume 10 The claim that the identity of instances guarantees the causal efficacy of the higher-order property is defended below, but was ...
Page 13
... context—the issue of whether the mental property of an event is causally effective in that event's bringing about the effects it does?17 Well, according to the PEA, events have (characterizing) properties as well as being the ...
... context—the issue of whether the mental property of an event is causally effective in that event's bringing about the effects it does?17 Well, according to the PEA, events have (characterizing) properties as well as being the ...
Page 17
... context, but this objection is common to several critics of our view; see Ehring 1996, 1999, and Yablo 1992, e.g. Note that Pettit's use of 'state' here must mean 'property-instance'. first-order physical properties, and while those ...
... context, but this objection is common to several critics of our view; see Ehring 1996, 1999, and Yablo 1992, e.g. Note that Pettit's use of 'state' here must mean 'property-instance'. first-order physical properties, and while those ...
Page 19
... context to context, depending on the type of effect to be explained. Moreover, even within a single context, there will be properties whose instances are causally efficacious, but the properties themselves will not be causally relevant ...
... context to context, depending on the type of effect to be explained. Moreover, even within a single context, there will be properties whose instances are causally efficacious, but the properties themselves will not be causally relevant ...
Contents
1 | |
28 | |
3 Can HunterGatherers Hear Color? | 55 |
4 Structural Irrationality | 84 |
5 Freedom Coercion and Discursive Control | 104 |
6 Conversability and Deliberation | 121 |
7 Pettits Molecule | 143 |
8 Contestatory Citizenship Deliberative Denizenship | 161 |
9 Crime Responsibility and Institutional Design | 182 |
10 Disenfranchised Silence | 199 |
Joining the Dots | 215 |
Index | 345 |
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able action active agent argue argument associated assume assumption attitudes behaviour belief capacity causal causal relevance cause certain claim color common conception conclusion context criminal decide decision deliberative depends desire discussion distinct effect event example expectancies experience explain fact freedom functional give given hold idea important individual instance intentional interest interference involve issue judges judgments justice kind less liberty look matter means mental moral natural neural normative object Oxford particular pattern perceptual person Pettit physical political position possible practical present Press problem produce properties question rational realized reason reference relation relevant represented republican respect responsibility result role rule seems sense silence social sort speech structural suggests Suppose synaesthetic theory things true understanding University vote