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Ideas of Robert Fogelin, by Text

[American, fl. 2003, Professor at Dartmouth College, USA]

2003 Walking the Tightrope of Reason
Intro p.1 We are also irrational, with a unique ability to believe in bizarre self-created fictions
Intro p.9 Humans may never be able to attain a world view which is both rich and consistent
Ch.1 p.18 The law of noncontradiction is traditionally the most basic principle of rationality
Ch.1 p.37 The law of noncontradiction makes the distinction between asserting something and denying it
Ch.2 p.47 A game can be played, despite having inconsistent rules
Ch.2 p.62 Deterrence, prevention, rehabilitation and retribution can come into conflict in punishments
Ch.2 p.63 Retributivists say a crime can be 'paid for'; deterrentists still worry about potential victims
Ch.2 p.63 Legal reasoning is analogical, not deductive
Ch.2 p.67 Philosophy may never find foundations, and may undermine our lives in the process
Ch.3 p.70 My view is 'circumspect rationalism' - that only our intellect can comprehend the world
Ch.3 p.75 Conventions can only work if they are based on something non-conventional
Ch.3 p.80 Radical perspectivism replaces Kant's necessary scheme with many different schemes
Ch.3 p.97 Cynics are committed to morality, but disappointed or disgusted by human failings
Ch.4 p.96 Rationality is threatened by fear of inconsistency, illusions of absolutes or relativism, and doubt
Ch.4 p.99 Scepticism is cartesian (sceptical scenarios), or Humean (future), or Pyrrhonian (suspend belief)
Ch.4 p.102 Knowledge is legitimate only if all relevant defeaters have been eliminated
Ch.4 p.104 Scepticism deals in remote possibilities that are ineliminable and set the standard very high
Ch.4 p.120 For coherentists, circularity is acceptable if the circle is large, rich and coherent
Ch.4 p.124 A rule of justification might be: don't raise the level of scrutiny without a good reason
Ch.6 p.146 Saying 'It's all a matter to taste' ignores the properties of the object discussed
Ch.6 p.147 Critics must be causally entangled with their subject matter
Ch.6 p.153 The word 'beautiful', when deprived of context, is nearly contentless