ABSTRACT

In this book one of Britain's leading philosophers tackles a question at the root of our civilisation: What is knowledge for? Midgley rejects the fragmentary and specialized way in which information is conveyed in the high-tech world, and criticizes conceptions of philosophy that support this mode of thinking.

part One|29 pages

Can Specialization Damage Your Health?

chapter Chapter One|9 pages

Moon-Monsters And Free People

chapter Chapter Two|11 pages

Wisdom and Contemplation

chapter Chapter Three|7 pages

The City Of Organized Thought and 4its Town-Planners

part Two|59 pages

The Role Of Science

chapter Chapter Four|14 pages

Scepticism and Personal Identity

chapter Chapter Five|8 pages

Personal and Impersonal

chapter Chapter Six|8 pages

Autonomy and Isolationism

chapter Chapter Seven|11 pages

Rigour and the Natural History of Controversy

chapter Chapter Eight|16 pages

The Seclusion of Science

part Three|164 pages

The Role of Philosophy

chapter Chapter Nine|14 pages

Canphilosophy be Neutral?

chapter Chapter Ten|8 pages

The Work of Purification

chapter Chapter Eleven|9 pages

The Problem of the Unknown

chapter Chapter Thirteen|10 pages

What Foundations Are

chapter Chapter Fourteen|10 pages

Moore and the Withdrawal of Moral Philosophy

chapter Chapter Fifteen|10 pages

Facts and Values

chapter Chapter Sixteen|13 pages

The Flight From Blame

chapter Chapter Seventeen|8 pages

The Clash of Systems

chapter Chapter Eighteen|11 pages

Empiricism and the Unspeakable

chapter Chapter Nineteen|10 pages

What Empiricism is

chapter Chapter Twenty|11 pages

Style and Substance

chapter Chapter Twenty-One|9 pages

Language for Solitaries

chapter Chapter Twenty-Two|13 pages

Escaping from Solitude

chapter Chapter Twenty-Three|16 pages

Philosophizing Out in the World