Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy: Arguments and Responses

217 Pages·2014·1.69 MB·English

by  Thomas D. Sullivan

Modern Challenges to Past
Philosophy

Modern Challenges to Past
Philosophy
Arguments and Responses
Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier
NEW YORK • LONDON • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury Academic
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First published 2014
© Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier, 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
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accepted by Bloomsbury or the authors.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sullivan, Thomas D.
Modern challenges to past philosophy : arguments and responses /
Thomas D. Sullivan and Russell Pannier.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4411-4166-8 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4411-7063-7
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy. I. Title.
BD41.S85 2014
190 – dc23
2013045226
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-4166-8
PB: 978-1-4411-7063-7
ePDF: 978-1-4411-4602-1
ePub: 978-1-4411-4496-6
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
We dedicate this book to our loving and supportive wives, Ann and Ginny

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
1 Problems and Perspectives 1
2 The Essence of Philosophy 27
3 Arguments for Taking Past Philosophers Seriously 73
4 Science, Scientism, and Philosophy 91
5 Scientistic Attacks on Past and Present Philosophy 107
6 Philosophic Attacks on Past and Present Philosophy 127
7 Philosophy, Time, and Eternity 171
Bibliography 183
Index 190
Acknowledgments
A number of people deserve our gratitude for assisting in some way with
the writing and production of this book: Thomas Sullivan Jr., Seanne Harris,
Julie Brooks, Michael Sullivan, Patrick Sullivan, Kerry LeClair, James Greene,
Richard Kaplan, Thomas Nobrega, Marco Fioretti, Dwight Nelson, Kenneth
Kemp, Michael Winter, Greg Coulter, Sandra Menssen, John Kronen, Pavel
Gravilyuk, Jeremiah Reedy, and Michael Weiss.
The superb copyediting of Ann M. Hale was indispensable and
accomplished with extraordinary good cheer.
Our editor, Haaris Naqvi, could not have been more supportive or patient
about delays in delivering the goods to him.
We are also very grateful to project manager Avinash Singh for his smooth
guidance of the manuscript to the end. Thanks also are due the production
team at Bloomsbury for their excellent work.
We wish to thank The University of St. Thomas for research funds granted
over the years.
Russell Pannier thanks his wife Ann for a lifetime of love, inspiration, and
helping him keep the cats off the computer keyboard.
Tom Sullivan thanks his wife Ginny and his family for loving, unflagging
support.
1
Problems and Perspectives
Problems and purposes
Overview
The irreplaceable gifts that have come down to us over the centuries from
philosophers of genius are no mere souvenirs from a bygone era. The content
of historical philosophers’ thought bears on our own questions. Through
diligent study, we can appropriate some of their wisdom to our considerable
advantage.
But is it really worth the effort to make cognitive contact with dead
thinkers from remote times and places? Why struggle with their demanding
and often cryptic thought? Is any philosophy worth much if it is devoid of
modern science? And has not the philosophical community pushed forward
in ways that render earlier philosophy irrelevant to modern problems?
Here, in brief, is our answer to these and related questions, an answer that
sketches the trajectory of this entire book.
We all philosophize
Out of wonder or need, we all philosophize. We ask: What does it all mean? Is
life worth living? Not just my life, but anyone’s? Can we really know anything?
Can we always be just? What would a just world look like? Do irredeemable
evil and suffering ultimately triumph? Is there a providential Mind? Is there a
living Being of infinite power, goodness, and wisdom? Is it at all plausible that
such a Being has spoken to us “at sundry times and in diverse manners”?1 Or
are we on our own in a frigid and uncaring universe?
The choices
Such philosophical questions include myriad others, less urgent but
nonetheless intriguing: What is a proof? What is a number? Space? Time?
Space-time? Chance? A poem? Beauty? A self? How can we move our bodies
1 Heb. 1:1.