Abstract

This is a useful addition to the metaphysical library. It is written from the optimistic view that metaphysics stands on the verge of a new age of creativity, made possible by the "resituation of reason" in modern metaphysics, by the rethinking of the nature of man and subjectivity, and by the new methodologies for the study of man suggested by linguistic analysis and phenomenology. The history focuses on what Strawson calls "descriptive" metaphysics. It presents a useful summary of metaphysical thought from the pre-Socratics through to the modern age, the groupings being the pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Medieval Metaphysics, Post-Medieval, and finally Contemporary Metaphysics. The only philosopher short-treated in the presentation is Spinoza, who gets only one paragraph sandwiched between fourteen pages on Descartes and six on Leibniz. The final chapter on Contemporary Metaphysics is by far the liveliest and most controversial. It is given over to an examination of the metaphysical contributions of pragmatists like James, phenomenologists like Husserl and Heidegger, and logical and linguistic analysts like Russell and Strawson. Regrettably, Whitehead receives no mention at all. Yet it is hard to see how any account of contemporary metaphysics--particularly a renaissance of metaphysics--can be considered complete without some reference to Whitehead's metaphysical scheme. In relation to the present work, his phenomenology and his approach to language would seem to be particularly pertinent.--H. B.