Review by Choice Review
Persson (Goteborg Univ.) offers a thoughtful, albeit disturbing, addition to the continuing discussion regarding the human condition. Philosophers have maintained since antiquity that reason is the primary and necessary element of a fulfilled and meaningful life. This serves to downplay, if not deride, the role of emotions and other ancillary mental states--what Persson calls the "para-cognitive" attitudes toward individuality, time, and responsibility. Rationalism, as strictly construed and practiced, conflicts with all these aims. One is faced with two possibilities--the first being a rejection of the world resulting in a "retreat of reason," in the sense of a withdrawal into reason. The second (the focus of the text) is for reason to "retreat" in favor of these other mental/cognitive attitudes. Persson contends that philosophy has treated para-cognitive attitudes as if they can be mapped onto a naturalistic framework; he does a laudable job of demonstrating that this is not the case. Thus one either stays within the rationalist framework expected of the philosopher (abdicating natural biases toward duty, self, and time), or (preferably) abdicates one's professional and cultural bias toward reason. Either option is unsettling. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty. S. J. Shaw Prairie View A&M University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
