The Making of a Philosopher

by McGinn, Colin

• ISBN13: 9780060957605
• ISBN10: 0060957603
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Part memoir, part study, The Making of a Philosopher is the selfportrait of a deeply intelligent mind as it develops over a life on both sides of the Atlantic. The Making of a Philosopher follows Colin McGinn from his early years in England reading Descartes and Anselm, to his years in the states, first in Los Angeles, then New York. McGinn presents a contemporary academic take on the great philosophical figures of the twentieth century, including Bertrand Russell, JeanPaul Sartre, and Noam Chomsky, alongside stories of the teachers who informed his ideas and often became friends and mentors, especially the colorful A.J. Ayer at Oxford. McGinn's prose is always elegant and probing; students of contemporary philosophy and the general reader alike will absorb every page.

Author Biography

Colin McGinn was educated at Oxford University. He has written widely on philosophy and philosophers in such publications as the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, the New Republic, and the New York Times Book Review. He is a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University and lives in New York City

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
CHAPTER ONE First Stirrings	1	(26)
CHAPTER TWO From Psychology to Philosophy	27	(30)
CHAPTER THREE Logic and Language	57	(32)
CHAPTER FOUR Mind and Reality	89	(34)
CHAPTER FIVE Belief, Desire, and Wittgenstein	123	(34)
CHAPTER SIX Consciousness and Cognition	157	(30)
CHAPTER SEVEN Metaphilosophy and Fiction	187	(28)
CHAPTER EIGHT Evil, Beauty, and Logic	215