Oxford University Press Inc
Oxford University Press Inc - Powers A History - Paperback
Oxford University Press Inc - Powers A History - Paperback
Books
Regular price
$47.50 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$47.50 USD
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Binding: Paperback
Description: Why does a wine glass break when you drop it whereas a steel goblet does not? The answer may seem obvious: glass unlike steel is fragile. This is an explanation in terms of a power or disposition: the glass breaks because it possesses a particular power namely fragility. Seemingly simple such intrinsic dispositions or powers have fascinated philosophers for centuries. A power's central task is explaining why a thing changes in the ways that it does rather than in other ways: powers should explain why an acorn turns into an oak tree not a sunflower or why fire burns wood and wood can catch fire. This volume examines the twists and turns of the fascinating history of a difficult philosophical concept focusing on the metaphysical sense of "powers" - - that is the powers that are invoked in the explanation of natural changes and activities. Scholars probe the views of thinkers from antiquity to the present day: Anaxagoras Plato the Stoics Abelard Anselm Henry of Ghent Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Margaret Cavendish Mary Shepherd Immanuel Kant Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and numerous others. In addition the volume contains four short reflection essays that examine the concept of powers from the perspective of disciplines other than philosophy namely history of music West African religions history of chemistry and history of art. The history of philosophy brims with controversies surrounding the concept of power and these controversies have not diminished - - particularly as potentialities or powers see a revival in contemporary analytic metaphysics. Hence telling the history of philosophical theories of powers means exploring the trajectory of a concept whose importance to the past and present of philosophy can hardly be overstated.
Title: Powers A History
Brand: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780190925529
Pages: 336 Pages, 5 Color
Publication Date: 5/14/2021
Series: Oxford Philosophical Concepts
Category: Philosophy: Metaphysics & Ontology
Description: Why does a wine glass break when you drop it whereas a steel goblet does not? The answer may seem obvious: glass unlike steel is fragile. This is an explanation in terms of a power or disposition: the glass breaks because it possesses a particular power namely fragility. Seemingly simple such intrinsic dispositions or powers have fascinated philosophers for centuries. A power's central task is explaining why a thing changes in the ways that it does rather than in other ways: powers should explain why an acorn turns into an oak tree not a sunflower or why fire burns wood and wood can catch fire. This volume examines the twists and turns of the fascinating history of a difficult philosophical concept focusing on the metaphysical sense of "powers" - - that is the powers that are invoked in the explanation of natural changes and activities. Scholars probe the views of thinkers from antiquity to the present day: Anaxagoras Plato the Stoics Abelard Anselm Henry of Ghent Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Margaret Cavendish Mary Shepherd Immanuel Kant Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and numerous others. In addition the volume contains four short reflection essays that examine the concept of powers from the perspective of disciplines other than philosophy namely history of music West African religions history of chemistry and history of art. The history of philosophy brims with controversies surrounding the concept of power and these controversies have not diminished - - particularly as potentialities or powers see a revival in contemporary analytic metaphysics. Hence telling the history of philosophical theories of powers means exploring the trajectory of a concept whose importance to the past and present of philosophy can hardly be overstated.
Title: Powers A History
Brand: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780190925529
Pages: 336 Pages, 5 Color
Publication Date: 5/14/2021
Series: Oxford Philosophical Concepts
Category: Philosophy: Metaphysics & Ontology
