Abstract

The expectation is fulfilled, but in an unexpected way. 'The first studies toward this book were addressed to topics in the field of ethics' ; but our author, like Wagner composing 'Der Ring des Nibelungen', found himself becoming preoccupied with prolegomena. To these the present volume is wholly devoted. In order to establish its fundamental thesis that valuation is a form of empirical knowledge, two preparatory discussions are called for. An analysis of empirical knowledge in general is one of these; but there is an inquiry properly prior even to this, an examination of the topic of meaning. The articulation of the book is accordingly tripartite; and Book I Meaning and Analytic Truth, Book II Empirical Knowledge, and Book III Valuation are of roughly equal length.