Ideas from 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature' by Richard Rorty [1980], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature' by Rorty,Richard [Blackwell 1980,0-631-12838-7]].

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1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 7. Limitations of Analysis

2557	Analytical philosophy seems to have little interest in how to tell a good analysis from a bad one

2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 3. Eristic

2556	Rational certainty may be victory in argument rather than knowledge of facts

3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 9. Rejecting Truth

4726	Rorty seems to view truth as simply being able to hold one's view against all comers [O'Grady]

3. Truth / E. Pragmatic Truth / 1. Pragmatic Truth

2549	For James truth is "what it is better for us to believe" rather than a correct picture of reality

13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 2. Pragmatic justification

2548	If knowledge is merely justified belief, justification is social

13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 8. Social Justification

6599	Knowing has no definable essence, but is a social right, found in the context of conversations

13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 6. Scepticism Critique

2566	You can't debate about whether to have higher standards for the application of words

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / a. Mind

2553	The mind is a property, or it is baffling

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / c. Features of mind

2550	Pain lacks intentionality; beliefs lack qualia

15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 4. Intentionality / b. Intentionality theories

2554	Is intentionality a special sort of function?

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 1. Meaning

2565	Nature has no preferred way of being represented

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 7. Meaning Holism / b. Language holism

2560	Can meanings remain the same when beliefs change?

19. Language / B. Reference / 1. Reference theories

2562	A theory of reference seems needed to pick out objects without ghostly inner states

19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 6. Truth-Conditions Semantics

2559	Davidson's theory of meaning focuses not on terms, but on relations between sentences

24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness

2558	Since Hegel we have tended to see a human as merely animal if it is outside a society