This book offers an exploration of how Carnap's legacy informs and challenges current approaches to philosophical methodology. The volume gathers new essays centered on two themes. The first examines language pluralism and its implications for metaphysics: contributors explore whether and how the choice of linguistic framework shapes or constrains metaphysical disputes, and what becomes of metaphysical realism in a pluralist setting. The second theme concerns theoretical virtues such as simplicity, elegance, and explanatory power, and their role in the justification and evaluation of philosophical theories. Across both themes, the volume reflects on the continuing relevance of Carnapian ideas while also pressing beyond them, showing how methodological questions remain central to the practice of philosophy today.

First book to connects Carnap's epistemology with his metaphysics Interrogates the epistemological presuppositions of much contemporary metaphysics Contains contributions from prominent researchers in philosophy

Autorentext

Darren Bradley teaches philosophy at the University of Leeds. He has worked at the University of British Columbia, the City College of New York. He works on a range of topics in metaphysics and epistemology, especially self-locating beliefs, the a priori, functionalism, and metametaphysics.

Klappentext

This book offers an exploration of how Carnap’s legacy informs and challenges current approaches to philosophical methodology. The volume gathers new essays centered on two themes. The first examines language pluralism and its implications for metaphysics: contributors explore whether and how the choice of linguistic framework shapes or constrains metaphysical disputes, and what becomes of metaphysical realism in a pluralist setting. The second theme concerns theoretical virtues such as simplicity, elegance, and explanatory power, and their role in the justification and evaluation of philosophical theories. Across both themes, the volume reflects on the continuing relevance of Carnapian ideas while also pressing beyond them, showing how methodological questions remain central to the practice of philosophy today.

Inhalt

Introduction (Darren Bradley).- Part 1: Language Pluralism and Metaphysics.- 1 Ontological disputes, Stalemates and Metaontological Pluralism (Delia Belleri).- 2 (Neo)Carnap and (Neo)Quine as quiet Relativists (Suki Finn).- 3 Carnap, Language Pluralism, and Rationality (Matti Eklund).- 4 The debate between Carnap and Quine? (Jody Azzouni).- 5 How (Not) to Avoid Metaphysics (Otávio Bueno).- Part 2: Theory Choice in Philosophy.- 6 Theory choice, primitiveness, and metaontology (Jiri Benovsky).- 7 Carnap and Theoretical Virtues (Jonathan Tallant).- 8 Material Composition and Bayesian Priors (Darren Bradley).- 9 Hume's Razor vs. Humean Recombination (Sam Cowling).- 10 A Carnapian Vision for Philosophy: Improving Concepts for Non-mirroring Understanding (Eve Kitsik).- 11 Against Dismissivism (Andrew Brenner).