A World without Why

Description

Wishful thinking is a deeply ingrained human trait that has had a long-term distorting effect on ethical thinking. Many influential ethical views depend on the optimistic assumption that, despite appearances to the contrary, the human and natural world in which we live could, eventually, be made to make sense to us. In A World without Why, Raymond

Raymond Geuss is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Cambridge. His books include Politics and the Imagination and Philosophy and Real Politics (both Princeton).

"Geuss is a unique voice in contemporary philosophy, and this book is ideal for anyone interested in intellectual history."--David Gordon, Library Journal "In A World Without Why, Raymond Geuss brings his caustic intelligence to many of themes and figures that have occupied his career."--Alex Sager, Marx & Philosophy "In these 13 essays, well-known critical philosopher Geuss ranges over a very wide field of topics--politics, ethics, cultural formations, history, ancient literary and philosophical works, and criticism itself... [S]tudents can read some of these essays with profit, such as the discussion of when obscurity of speech might be best."--Choice "This book leaves a lasting impression. Geuss is a great writer and a very thoughtful human being who has resisted quite valiantly the conventions of his discipline and his times. This is no 'grim' outlook at all, but rather hopeful, and one can only hope that Geuss himself agrees."--Laurie M. Johnson, European Legacy