Anthony O'Hear

This balanced and up-to-date introduction to the philosophy of science covers all the main topics in the area, and initiates the student into the moral and social reality of science. O'Hear discusses the growth of knowledge of science, the status of scientific theories and their relationship to observational data, the extent to which scientific theories rest on unprovable paradigms, and the nature of scientific explanations. In later chapters he considers probability, scientific reductionism, the relationship between science and technology, and the relationship between scientific and other values.

Compact INTRODUCING guide to Christianity's central figure. Christianity depends on the belief that the Jesus of history is identical with the Christ of faith, and that God in the person of Jesus intervened finally and decisively in human history. But is the historical Jesus the same as the Christian Saviour? And how did an obscure provincial religion based on the paradox of a crucified saviour conquer the Roman Empire and outlive it? INTRODUCING JESUS - A GRAPHIC GUIDE confronts the enigmas. It sets Jesus in the perspective of his time - within Judaism and its expectations of a Messiah, in the atmosphere of Greek philosophy and the Roman deification of emperors. It traces the development of Christianity from St. Paul and the Romanization of the Church, to modern liberation theology. This book is a lucid and exciting investigation that will appeal to all readers, whether Christian or not.

An introduction to contemporary philosophy

An important, bold challenge to our attitude toward progress.As we stand on the brink of the third millennium, we are very much in thrall to the idea that civilization is moving forward in a progressive direction, and that overall in the world things are getting better. In After Progress , philosopher Anthony O'Hear argues that we need to temper our optimism and self-assurance, that progress has not been attained without some loss. The gains of the past two or three centuries, particularly in the fields of science and democratic politics, have resulted in losses in areas once thought of as allied to religion, such as art, education, morality and philosophy. O'Hear asks the basic why does it seem there are more unhappy people today in the US and in Britain when we are living in a time of unprecedented individual affluence, health and human rights? O'Hear sets out to find out how we might re-examine our lives of progress by looking back on what we have learned from the great philosophers, scientists, and thinkers of the past.After Progress serves as an introduction to the ideas of major thinkers from Plato to Wittgenstein, as well as providing a new way to think about the present, by not ignoring the lessons from the past.

Few philosophers in this century have had either Karl Popper's range or influence, inside and outside philosophy. This collection of essays by fifteen distinguished philosophers, several of whom have been closely associated with Popper and his work, provides a timely assessment of Popper's contributions in a number of key areas: the methodology and philosophy of science; probability and determinism; quantum theory; biology; the theory of evolution; and the theory and practice of politics.

In this controversial new book O'Hear takes a stand against the fashion for explaining human behavior in terms of evolution. He contends that while the theory of evolution is successful in explaining the development of the natural world in general, it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and our rationality we take on goals and ideals which cannot be justified in terms of survival-promotion or reproductive advantage. O'Hear examines the nature of human self-consciousness, and argues that evolutionary theory cannot give a satisfactory account of such distinctive facets of human life as the quest for knowledge, moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty; in these we transcend our biological origins. It is our rationality that allows each of us to go beyond not only our biological but also our cultural as the author says in the Preface, "we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each makeour personal and individual way through life."

In this powerful re-examination of the purpose and direction of philosophy for the next century, Anthony O'Hear engages with our most pressing questions: Is there knowledge outside of science? Does religion still have meaning and coherence today? What is beauty, and why do so few contemporary artists believe in it? Contemporary philosophy mostly divides into the technical approach of the Anglo-Americans, which is inaccessible to most, and the oracular obscurantism of the Continental approach, which does violence to sense and reason.O'Hear argues that philosophy should work with the grain of tradition and commonsense to understand politics, religion, aesthetics, and the vast number of ethical questions that will continue to arise as the scientific and technical revolution accelerates. Giving up philosophy's special position means giving up our best chances of thinking and acting wisely. In making a strong case for the relevance of philosophy, Anthony O'Hear presents a coherent and compelling vision for recovering wisdom in our time.

O'Hear, Anthony

Intended primarily for education students this book provides an introduction to the philosophy of education that tackles educational problems and at the same time relates them to the mainstream of philosophical analysis. Among the educational topics the book discusses are the aims of education, the two cultures debate, moral education, equality as an ideal and academic elitism. It examines the limitations of a purely technological education, and suggests the shape of a balanced curriculum. It critically analyses important educational theses in the work of Rousseau, Dewey, R S Peters, P H Hirst, F R Leavis, Ronald Dworkin and G H Bantock, among many others, and considers the philosophical copics of relativism, the nature of knowledge, the basis of moral choice, the value of democracy and the status of religious claims.

10,000 years ago, Man lived in caves following their instinct with little knowledge; today, we have the most sophisticated understanding of our environment ever in the history of man. Yet, British popular culture feasts on feral impulses, such as mouthiness, exhibitionism, binge-drinking and child criminality, as opposed to achievements and intelligence. More than two millennia have passed since Plato coined the image of prisoners tied up in a cave mistaking shadows for reality to represent the human preference for diversion over difficult truth. He could not have known how prescient this image was. In today's world of TV and gratification, where celebrities represent our standard of ultimate success and media are our guide through reality, Plato's image is more relevant than ever in history. In this insightful look at the icons of modern culture, Anthony O'Hear investigates what has happened to our society, now that Plato's figure of speech has become a reality supported by a whole branch of industry. Weaned on a diet of visual stimulants, is our society disconnecting itself further and further truth? In a cross between John Gray's "Straw Dogs" and Francis Wheen's "How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World", media philosopher Anthony Hear argues that modern culture is creating a world of ideas in which truthfulness, responsibility, talent and achievements have started to mean less and less.

The fourteen essays in this book develop a conception of human culture, which is humane and traditionalist. Focusing particularly on notions of beauty and the aesthetic, it sees within our culture intimations of the transcendent, and in two essays the nature of religion is directly addressed. A number of essays also explore the relation between politics and tradition.

What is the mind? How does it relate to the body and the world? What is consciousness? What is experience? How free are we? Do we have special insights into ourselves? These perennial questions are at the forefront of the philosophical concerns today. Much of the most exciting and innovative work in philosophy at the present time is being done in the philosophy of mind. The best of this work is represented in this collection, based on the Royal Institute of Philosophy's annual lecture series for 1996/7. It brings together leading figures in the area from Britain and the US, who lay out their thoughts on key issues in an accessible way. The book will be of great interest both to those working in the field and to those keen to discover just where philosophy and the philosophy of mind is moving at the end of the twentieth century.

El cristianismo depende de la creencia de que el Jesús histórico es idéntico al Cristo de la fe, y de que Dios, en la persona de Jesús, intervino final y decisivamente en la historia humana. Pero ¿es el Jesús histórico el mismo que el Cristo salvador? Y, ¿cómo una religión provincial oscura basada en la paradoja de un salvador crucificado conquistó al Imperio Romano y sobrevivió a este? Jesús, una guía ilustrada, confronta estos enigmas. Sitúa a Jesús en la perspectiva de su dentro del judaísmo y de las expectativas de un mesías, en la atmósfera de la filosofía griega y de la deificación romana de los emperadores. Traza el desarrollo del cristianismo desde San Pablo hasta la romanización de la Iglesia, hasta la teología de la liberación moderna. Este libro es una investigación lúcida y excitante que apelará a todos los lectores, tanto si son cristianos como si no.

In this powerful re-examination of the purpose and direction of philosophy for the new century O'Hear engages with our most pressing questions. Is there knowledge outside of science? Does religion still have meaning and coherence today? What is beauty and why do so few contemporary artists believe in it? In making a strong case for the relevance of philosophy O'Hear presents a coherent and compelling vision for recovering wisdom in our time.

An attack on the theory and practice of the British common education system, arguing that its attempts at democratic ideals are inherently contradictory and self-defeating and hides, even from the teachers and principals, the authoritarian nature of the administration.

This book is available either individually, or as part of the specially-priced Arguments of the Philosphers Collection.

First published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A series of nine major articles by eminent philosophers on the life and work of some of the most important twentieth-century philosophers at Cambridge. All these essays originally appeared in the journal Philosophy from the Royal Institute of Philosophy. Contributors Henry Sidgwick by Ross Harrison; A. N. Whitehead by Dorothy Emmet; J. M. E. McTaggart by Peter