Robert Brandom - Softcover

Wanderer, Jeremy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184465088X ISBN 13: 9781844650880

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

Robert Brandom is one of the most significant philosophers writing today, yet it can be a challenge to fully grasp the details and implications of his work. This book aims to facilitate critical engagement with Brandom's ideas by providing an accessible overview of Brandom's project and the context for an initial assessment. Jeremy Wanderer s exploration of the core goals of Brandom's inferentialist conception of rationality - to specify the structure that a set of performances within a social practice must have for the participants to count as sapient beings by virtue of their participation in the practice, and for the performances within the practice to have objective semantic content by virtue of their featuring within the practice - form the structure of the book. Part I provides a structural model of linguistic practice and considers various groups of potential participants in terms of their relationships to this practice. Part II examines the meaning of the performances that are caught up in this game-playing practice. Brandom's approach to semantics is outlined and the challenge such an approach has in allowing for a representational dimension of language and thought is fully explored. The book offers readers a valuable framework for understanding the Brandomian system and by situating Brandom's theorizing within contemporary Anglo-American philosophy, it will become a sought after aid for both advanced students and philosophers engaging with this popular thinker s complex body of work.

About this title

Review

"A very good guide, at once thoughtfully critical and generally sympathetic. It introduces in a direct and clear way many themes in Brandom, but does so according to its own plan, thereby shedding light on aspects of Brandom's thought that can be hard to discern in the original presentation." --Danielle Macbeth, Haverford College, Pennsylvania

"An excellent book. The author has an assured grasp of a very difficult, structurally complex area of philosophy and he has plenty to contribute to the debate, both by clarifying the issues and also by adding a critical dimension." --Rowland Stout, University College Dublin

Synopsis

Jeremy Wanderer offers students a clear introduction to the philosophy of Robert Brandom, in particular to his monumental work "Making It Explicit", one of the most significant (and daunting) works of philosophy of recent years. The book provides a clear sense of Brandom's project, aids and motivates a close reading of the core text, and provides a context for an initial assessment of Brandom's enterprise. To this end, the book provides a clear distilation of the various parts of Brandom's project, highlights some of the philosophical problems that it seeks to solve, explores the wider implications and ramifications of his account, and provides an initial assessment and critique. It is the first book of its kind to situate Brandom's work within contemporary Anglo-American philosophy and the history of philosophy more generally and will be a valuable aid to reading Brandom for advanced students and philosophers tackling his challenging body of work.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 184465088X
• ISBN 13: 9781844650880
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256