1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910822405503321

Autore

La Caze Marguerite

Titolo

The analytic imaginary / / Marguerite La Caze

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca ; ; London : , : Cornell University Press, , 2002

ISBN

1-5017-2742-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (194 pages)

Disciplina

146/.4

Soggetti

Analysis (Philosophy)

Thought experiments

Figures of speech

Metaphor

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-190) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Philosophical Images -- 2. Analogizing Abortion -- 3. Experimenting with Persons -- 4. Contractarian Myths -- 5. Metaphorical Knowledge -- 6. Modeling Aesthetics -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The notion of the philosophical imaginary developed by Michéle Le Doeuff refers to the capacity to imagine as well as to the stock of images philosophers employ. Making use of this notion, Marguerite La Caze explores the idea of the imaginary of analytic philosophy. Noting the marked tendency of analytic philosophy to be unselfconscious about the use of figurative language and the levels at which it works, La Caze shows how analytic images can work to define the parameters of debates and exclude differing approaches, including feminist ones.La Caze focuses on five influential types of images in five central areas of contemporary analytic philosophy: analogies and how they are used in the abortion debates; thought experiments in personal identity; the myth of the social contract; Thomas Nagel's use of visual and spatial metaphors in epistemology; and Kendall Walton's use of children's games as a foundational model in aesthetics.The author shows how the image promotes assumptions and conceals tensions in philosophical works, how the image persuades, and how it limits debate and excludes ideas. In providing an analysis of and reflection on the nature



of the analytic imaginary, La Caze suggests that a more open-ended and reflexive approach can result in richer, more fruitful, philosophical work.