A System of Pragmatic Idealism, Volume I: Human Knowledge in Idealistic Perspective (A System of Pragmatic Idealism, Vol. 1)

With Human Knowledge in Idealistic Perspective the philosopher Nicholas Rescher launches a three-volume series that will synthesize his life's work. Rescher's numerous books and articles, which address almost every major philosophical topic, reflect a unified approach: the combination of pragmatism and idealism characteristic of his thinking throughout his career. Three related but independently readable books will now present Rescher's system as a whole, showing that rather than simply juxtaposing European continental idealism and American pragmatism in a new way, he has created an integrated philosophical position in which the central concepts of these two traditions become a coherent totality. The present initial volume is dedicated to issues of epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of nature. Its position conforms to the classical structure of idealism in assigning to mind-supplied materials an at least partially determinative role in relation to our standard characterization of the world. Its approach has a teleological character in recognizing the substantial part played by human purpose, but nevertheless represents a middle-of-the-road idealism that makes significant concessions to realism. The second volume of the work will deal with issues of value theory, ethics, and practical philosophy; the third, with the nature of philosophical inquiry itself. Part of a three-volume set which records the life's work of the author, this text examines the nature of philosophical inquiry, seeking to affirm the classical conception of philosophy as a significant problem-solving enterprise that draws on the entire range of human experience. V.1. Human Knowledge In Idealistic Perspective -- V. 2. The Validity Of Values: A Normative Theory Of Evaluation Rationality -- V. 3. Metaphilosophical Inquiries. Nicholas Rescher. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. 0a7d6852186c4e6fab73766058c4620ed8faf0f907cc39c1b8110560f9b22c68.pdf Untitled 0a7d6852186c4e6fab73766058c4620ed8faf0f907cc39c1b8110560f9b22c68.pdf Added two pages missing (pages xiv and 1) from other versions of this file. Also, compressed and in high quality v. 1. Human knowledge in idealistic perspective v. 2. The validity of values v. 3. Metaphilosophical inquiries..