Peter Winch

by Lyas,Colin

• ISBN13: 9781902683010
• ISBN10: 1902683013
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This is the first introduction to the ideas of the British philosopher, Peter Winch (1926¿97). Although author of the hugely influential The Idea of a Social Science (1958) much of Winch's other work has been neglected as philosophical fashions have changed. Recently, however, philosophers are again seeing the importance of Winch's ideas and their relevance to current philosophical concerns. In charting the development of Winch's ideas Lyas engages with many of the major preoccupations of philosophy of the past forty years. The range of Winch's ideas becomes apparent and his importance clearly underlined. Lyas offers more than an assessment of the work of one man: it introduces in a sympathetic and judicious way a powerful representative of an important and demanding conception of philosophy.

Table of Contents

Preface	vi
Introduction: Peter Winch, a glimpse of a life	1	(8)
``Such understanding as I have'': The influence of Wittgenstein	9	(30)
``I was investigating the notion of the social'': The idea of a social science	39	(30)
``Seriously to study another way of life'': Understanding another society	69	(32)
``Good examples are indispensable'': The ethical life	101	(28)
``The concept of God is used'': The religious forms of life	129	(26)
``The interval of hesitation'': Peter Winch's Simone Weil	155	(26)
``Someone willing to die for truth'': Peter Winch's legacy	181	(24)
Envoi	205	(2)
References	207	(4)
Index	211