Recent Philosophers

Anglo-American philosophy has undergone a spectacular metamorphosis in the past 20 years, changing from a small, cozy, self-contained scholarly clique, reading few journals and writing little, into an enormous and increasingly sub-divided industry, churning out such a plethora of material that no single person can stay abreast of it. Among developments that would have been difficult to foresee 20 years ago, mathematical logic has become separated from philosophy, and philosophy has become intimately involved with academic linguistics. Professor Passmore's account is unavoidably selective, but gives a clear description of major trends and personalities. It can be recommended to the general reader who wants to know what philosophers have been up to lately, the beginning philosophy student, and the professional philosopher who wants a bird's eye view of the whole field. Discusses Chomsky, Davidson, Dennett, Derrida, Dummett, Feyerabend, Goodman, Mary Hesse, Kripke, David Lewis, Montague, Putnam, and Rorty.