The Philosophy of Nicholas Rescher: Discussion and Replies (Philosophical Studies Series, 15)

When I entered the graduate program in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh in 1961, Nicholas Rescher had just joined the department of philosophy' to begin, with Adolf Grunbaum, the building of what is now a philosophy center of worldwide renown. Very soon his exceptional energy and versatility were in evidence, as he founded the American Philosophical Quarterly, generated a constantly rising stack of preprints, pursued impor­ tant scholarly research in Arabic logic, taught a staggering diversity of histori­ cal and thematic courses, and obtained, in cooperation with Kurt Baier, a major grant for work in value theory. That is all part of the record. What may come as a surprise is that none of it was accomplished at the expense of his students. Papers were returned in a matter of days, often the next class meet­ ing. And so easily accessible was he for philosophical discussion that, since (inevitably) we shared many philosophical interests, I asked him to serve as my dissertation advisor. My work in connection with this project led to a couple of journal articles while his, characteristically, led to a book. Our dis­ cussions certainly helped me, and while they may also have had some small influence on him, in the end our views were quite distinct. I was not only allowed complete independence, but was positively encouraged to think of my own ideas and to develop them independently. The length and breadth of Rescher's bibliography defy belief. Front Matter....Pages i-xi The Method of Applied Logic: Some Philosophical Considerations....Pages 1-16 Reply to Barker....Pages 17-18 Rescher’s Hypothetical Reasoning: An Amendment....Pages 19-28 Reply to Belnap....Pages 29-31 Hypothetical Reasoning and Conditionals....Pages 33-45 Reply to Ellis....Pages 46-47 Rescher’s Theory of Plausible Reasoning....Pages 49-60 Reply to L. J. Cohen....Pages 61-63 A Modal Logic of Place....Pages 65-73 Reply to Von Wright....Pages 74-75 Familiar Mental Phenomena....Pages 77-94 Reply to A. Baier....Pages 95-96 Toward a Theory of Attributes....Pages 97-105 Reply to Chisholm....Pages 106-107 Potentiality from Aristotle to Rescher and Back....Pages 109-122 Reply to Dougherty....Pages 123-124 Substances and Individual Notions....Pages 125-137 Reply to Ishiguro....Pages 138-139 Utilitarianism and the Vicarious Affects....Pages 141-152 Reply to Hare....Pages 153-155 Rescher’s Epistemological System....Pages 157-172 Reply to Bonjour....Pages 173-174 How is Knowledge of the World Possible?....Pages 175-185 Reply to Yolton....Pages 186-187 Rescher and Kant: Some Common Themes in Philosophy of Science....Pages 189-203 Reply to Butts....Pages 204-205 A Biographical Précis....Pages 207-208 Back Matter....Pages 209-237