000			01781nmm a2200181Ia 4500
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020			_a9780199872206
082			_a149.2 _bN131L
100			_aNagel, T. _eAuthor _lEnglish _92371
245		4	_aThe Last Word _c/ by T. Nagel. _h[Electronic Resource]
260			_aNew York _b: Oxford University Press, _c2003
520			_aIn this discussion of where justification and understanding come to an end, Nagel undertakes to refute various forms of subjectivism. Defending rationalism, he argues that there are some thoughts that we simply cannot get outside of; thoughts that we cannot regard as mere psychological dispositions. The last word on philosophical disputes about the objectivity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are. In the domains of logic and mathematics, certain basic propositions are immune to doubt being central to the framework of everything we can think. In the domains of ethics, science, or history, resistance to the external or subjective viewpoint comes from within these domains themselves. First‐order thoughts about ethics, science, and history are the decisive factor in response to any second‐order thoughts about their psychological character. Any criticism of the reasoning within these domains necessarily involves reasoning carried out at the same level of inquiry. Questions about how the capacity for rational thought is possible for a species like ours generate a pernicious fear of religion that Nagel seeks to dispel.
650			_aEpistemology _915933
650			_aPhilosophy _915934
650			_aPhilosophy Of Religion _92373
856			_uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1093/0195149831.001.0001 _qPDF _yClick to Access the Online Book
942			_cEBK _nYes
999			_c12431 _d12431