Review by Choice Review
Wilson (Pittsburgh) has written a book that careful philosophical readers are likely to regard as one of the most interesting and most important in recent years. The core of Wilson's novel conception of 20th-century philosophy and science derives from his mastery of current philosophy of language combined with a deep understanding of applied mathematics. His thesis is that words employed in the descriptive practices of common sense and science do not behave in tolerably regular ways. Twentieth-century philosophy of science and philosophy of language tended to assume that such "quirky" behavior derives "from controllable human inattention and carelessness." Wilson argues effectively that this is not the case. The root problem is "a basic unwillingness of the physical universe to sit still while we frame its descriptive picture." In his view, applied mathematics has developed some effective methods of dealing with "recalcitrant subjects" of various kinds; in erudite discussions of the limits of 20th-century philosophy, he puts some of these to work. It is unclear whether these discussions open a path to an improved philosophical future. But Wilson's aims are modest: he claims only to show that some progress is possible and that, at least in selective cases, one has reasonably clear models of how to proceed. ^BSumming Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. J. White University of Maine
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
