Making Names: An Idea of Philosophy - Softcover

Malcolm, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1874222010 ISBN 13: 9781874222019

Publisher: AKME Publications, 1993

Synopsis

This controversial philosophy text, subtitled "an Idea of Philosophy" and aimed at a general readership, became the subject of a marathon lawsuit fought against Oxford University (Press) which the author famously won in the Court of Appeal in 1990. The case fundamentally redrew author-publisher law, and left the book subject to an Oxford condition which makes it additionally unique in literary history. The book itself has been described as "a modern Platonic dialogue", and consists, after a passage of Oxbridge scene-setting, of a day-long conversation between two strangers who meet one summer's morning in a near-miss car accident. After introductions, Andrew Cause, a philosopher, subjects Malcolm Effect, a research scientist, to a sustained sceptical attack upon the inadequacies and inconsistencies of his world-view. Traditional problems are introduced, including those of mind and body, cause and effect, free will, universals, and the nature of moral goodness. Cause identifies the scientist's particle theory of matter as a crucially mistaken and hopeless metaphysics which has now outlived any usefulness. Step by step, Effect is reduced to a state of confusion, and finally he demands that Cause produce an alternative. In a literally dramatic climax the philosopher invokes a new model which, he claims, gets to the heart of things...

About this title

Review

"I found Malcolm's Electra extremely interesting, deeply moving and deeply impressive; it is excellent. I think very highly of Malcolm's gifts. He has the heart of a dramatist, the soul of a poet. He has caught the true spirit of Greek tragedy. I felt as if I was reading Sophocles." -- Sir Karl Popper, CH, FRS, recorded eulogy, April 1993

"I very much enjoyed Making Names and consider it to be a valuable book. It is a comprehensive, professional text that introduces the philosophy that is taught in sixth-form colleges or polytechnics. The originality of its dialogue format makes it fun to read. Resourceful teachers will find it useful. I found it valuable because it challenges in an accessible fashion the current dogmas by which we are educated and which are too easily accepted as fact. Science is not a temple of absolutism, it is the product of individuals' creativity; it is much more like art than is generally realized. In this book, by concentrating on people, the nature of science as it is practised is well portrayed. I imagine Making Names may well attain a certain cult status." -- Terence Kealey, affidavit testimony and The Spectator, 10/4/93

"I was quite gripped by the end, I was reading with the kind of attention that one gives to a novel. I'm pleased that we are going to do Making Names and hope that it's a terrific success" -- Henry Hardy, Oxford University Press 20/5/85 & 14/6/85

"Let there be no mistake about it, the failure of this transaction was about money, not prestige." -- Lord Justice Mustill, Court of Appeal judgment, 19/12/90

"Making Names is an exceptional piece of work, highly unusual in both its content and presentation. Malcolm's use of dialogue is more fully dramatic than Plato's or Berkeley's, his writing is fluent and wonderfully easy to read. Most of the major philosophical problems are presented and argued, but it is not until the final chapter that Malcolm's fusion of philosophy and drama takes its most audacious step, when he presents his very striking version of the tragedy Electra. Malcolm has done something in this book which is unique." -- Professor Roy Edgley, Sussex University, courtroom testimony 10/7/91

"Making Names is an original tour de force... comparable to some of Bertrand Russell's later writing, effectively communicating the essentials of philosophy and scientific theorising to students and general readers. Making Names should prove to be a widely popular introductory text." -- R.W. Noble, Times Educational Supplement, 25/9/92

"Making Names is in no way crazy and is very easy to read. Malcolm has a real gift for informal exposition, he is very clear and he knows what he's talking about. I think Making Names might prove extremely effective as an introduction to philosophical problems and procedures." -- Galen Strawson, St Hugh's College, Oxford, OUP report 14/7/85

"Making Names makes one of the shrewdest cases for a sort of Collingwoodian Idealism that I've read. I like the dialogue style, it's a bold attempt to do philosophy in an unusual literary format, and a bit of boldness is in order." -- Alan Ryan, Warden, New College Oxford, OUP reports 11/2/85 & 18/7/85

"The progress of Malcolm's dialogue challenges, both directly and by implication, what are taken to be the guiding principles of modern physics and cosmology, particularly in respect of particle theory. He is evidently well informed, and presents us with a sort of voyage of discovery. Making Names is aimed at everyone." -- Jeremy Mynott, Cambridge University Press, courtroom testimony 10/7/91

About the Author

Andrew Malcolm was born in England in 1948 into the heart of the green-belted middle class. After school, he travelled extensively in Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India, the Far East, and The U.S.S.R. He won a scholarship in Natural Sciences to Cambridge University, where he gained an MA in Philosophy. Subsequently he held a number of adult education Philosophy lecture courses in the Brighton area, as a result of which the ideas and arguments in Making Names took shape. From 1986 to 1992 he fought and won the historic 'landmark' case of Malcolm v. The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (U.K. Court of Appeal, 1990) and in 1997 he published The Remedy, an account of the affair. He is married with one son.

Edition details

• Publisher: AKME Publications
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1874222010
• ISBN 13: 9781874222019
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 435