The Uses of the Past from Heidegger to Rorty
Doing Philosophy Historically

In this book Robert Piercey asks how it is possible to do philosophy by studying the thinkers of the past.

Robert Piercey (Author)

9781107404328, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 May 2012

234 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.32 kg

In this book Robert Piercey asks how it is possible to do philosophy by studying the thinkers of the past. He develops his answer through readings of Martin Heidegger, Richard Rorty, Paul Ricoeur, Alasdair MacIntyre and other historically-minded philosophers. Piercey shows that what is distinctive about these figures is a concern with philosophical pictures - extremely general conceptions of what the world is like - rather than specific theories. He offers a comprehensive and illuminating exploration of the way in which these thinkers use narrative to evaluate and criticise these pictures. The result is a powerful and original account of how philosophers use the past.

Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Introduction: the uses of the past
1. Doing philosophy historically
2. The role of narrative
3. Defending the historical thesis
4. The critical approach: MacIntyre
5. The diagnostic approach: Heidegger
6. The synthetic approach: Ricoeur
Consequences
References
Index.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], History of Western philosophy [HPC]