Book contents
- Frontmatter
- List of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- §1 Problem of the New
- §2 Problem of Relations
- §3 Problem of Emergence
- §4 Problem of One and Many
- §5 Plato and the Third Man Argument
- §6 Bradley and the Problem of Relations
- §7 Moore, Russell and the Birth of Analytic Philosophy
- §8 Russell and Deleuze on Leibniz
- §9 On Problematic Fields
- §10 Kant and Problematic Ideas
- §11 Armstrong and Lewis on the Problem of One and Many
- 12 Determinables and Determinates
- 13 The Limits of Representational Thought
- 14 Learning from a Cup of Coffee
- 15 Carnap and the Fate of Metaphysics
- 16 Truth and Relevance
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
§1 - Problem of the New
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2023
- Frontmatter
- List of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- §1 Problem of the New
- §2 Problem of Relations
- §3 Problem of Emergence
- §4 Problem of One and Many
- §5 Plato and the Third Man Argument
- §6 Bradley and the Problem of Relations
- §7 Moore, Russell and the Birth of Analytic Philosophy
- §8 Russell and Deleuze on Leibniz
- §9 On Problematic Fields
- §10 Kant and Problematic Ideas
- §11 Armstrong and Lewis on the Problem of One and Many
- 12 Determinables and Determinates
- 13 The Limits of Representational Thought
- 14 Learning from a Cup of Coffee
- 15 Carnap and the Fate of Metaphysics
- 16 Truth and Relevance
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
What is new, truly new? If we say that some event or phenomenon, A, is truly new, then by what criterion do we make this claim? The most immediate answer appears to be that what is new is unlike anything that preceded it, or there are no phenomena or events prior to A that include or harbour A, for if they did then A would not be truly new but would be simply the explication of what was already implicitly present. The problem of the new may therefore not even be a problem. One could echo the sentiments expressed in the book of Ecclesiastes and resign oneself to the view that ‘what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun’ (Ecclesiastes 1:9, New International Version). If one does accept that there can be something that is truly novel, a reality irreducible to what has preceded it, then we have other problems that come along.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Inquiry into Analytic-Continental MetaphysicsTruth, Relevance and Metaphysics, pp. 15Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2022