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This is a series on key philosophical topics arising from the Royal Institute of Philosophy annual conferences and annual lectures. Also available to institutional subscribers as supplements to the leading journal Philosophy, books in the series are edited collections with contributions from some of the world's leading philosophers. The books are written in a clear style that makes them accessible to scholars in other disciplines and to general readers. Topics covered include naturalised philosophy of mind; aesthetics, ethics and value; and philosophy and public affairs.

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28 results in Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements

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Political Philosophy
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    04 August 2010
    Print publication:
    08 March 2007
  • This collection of essays from the Royal Institute of Philosophy, first published in 2007, looks at a wide range of topics in political philosophy ranging from issues such as terrorism, egalitarianism and the just war to considerations of the political philosophy of Edmund Burke, of philosophical liberalism and of the current state of utilitarianism in political thought. There are also treatments of the role of innocence and of emotion in political discourse.

Preferences and Well-Being
  • Edited by Serena Olsaretti
  • Published online:
    07 May 2010
    Print publication:
    23 October 2006
  • Preferences are often thought to be relevant for well-being: respecting preferences, or satisfying them, contributes in some way to making people's lives go well for them. A crucial assumption that accompanies this conviction is that there is a normative standard that allows us to discriminate between preferences that do, and those that do not, contribute to well-being. The papers collected in this volume, written by moral philosophers and philosophers of economics, explore a number of central issues concerning the formulation of such a normative standard. They examine what a defensible account of how preferences should be formed for them to contribute to well-being should look like; whether preferences are subject to requirements of rationality and what reasons we have to prefer certain things over others; and what the significance is, if any, of preferences that are arational or not conducive to well-being.

The Philosophy of Need
  • Edited by Soran Reader
  • Published online:
    06 July 2010
    Print publication:
    09 March 2006
  • Until recently, philosophers tended to be suspicious of the concept of need. Contributors to this volume build on recent work establishing its philosophical importance. David Wiggins, Gillian Brock and John O'Neill propose remedies for some mistakes made in ignoring or marginalising need, for example in need-free theories of rationality or justice. Christopher Rowe, Soran Reader and Sarah Miller highlight insights that emerge when the concept of need is explored through Plato, Aristotle and Kant - and others that emerge when historical work is seen through the lens of need. Jonathan Lowe and Garrett Thomson consider the role need plays in the philosophies of action and mind. Bill Wringe, David Braybrooke and Sabina Alkire debate how our obligations relating to need are best understood and articulated, and how we can best ensure they are fulfilled, exploring for example how talk of need is related to talk of rights, well-being or capability.

Philosophy, Biology and Life
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    07 May 2010
    Print publication:
    28 November 2005
  • It has been claimed that following the decline of Marxism and Freudianism, Darwinism has become the dominant intellectual paradigm of our day. In the mass media there are many bitter disputes between today's new Darwinians and their opponents, often over religion. But the 'neo-Darwinian paradigm' is not as simple or as seamless as either its advocates or its opponents would sometimes have us believe. Biology is in a state of development which defies the standard stereotypes. The papers in this volume, written by some of the leading philosophers in the field, bring out many of the fascinating and complex issues which arise in current attempts to account for life and its development.

Modern Moral Philosophy
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    14 May 2010
    Print publication:
    18 November 2004
  • Although this collection of articles is not formally a commentary on Elizabeth Anscombe's famous article of the same title, in which she criticised the moral philosophy prevalent in 1958, a number of the contributors do take Anscombe's work as a starting point. Taken together the collection could be seen as a demonstration of the extent to which moral philosophers have since attempted to answer Anscombe's challenge, and to develop an approach to their subject which, while psychologically plausible, is neither based on divine law nor permissive of the impermissible.

Agency and Action
  • Edited by John Hyman, Helen Steward
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    15 November 2004
  • One of the most exciting developments in philosophy in the last fifty years is the resurgence in the philosophy of action. The concept of action now occupies a central place in ethics, metaphysics and jurisprudence. This collection of original essays, by some of the most astute and influential philosophers working in this area, covers the entire range of the philosophy of action. Topics covered include the nature of actions themselves; how the concepts of act, agent, cause and event are related to each other; self-knowledge, emotion, autonomy and freedom in human life; and the place of the concept of action in criminal law. The volume concludes with a major essay by one of America's leading authorities in the philosophy of law on 'the 3.5 billion dollar question': was the destruction of the World Trade Center one event or two?

Minds and Persons
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    04 August 2010
    Print publication:
    25 August 2003
  • The nature of the mind and of consciousness, the reality of freedom, the concept of agency and the relation of language to the mental: all are central and perennial questions in philosophy. In this collection, these and other topics are pursued in original essays by some of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy of mind and action. The essays are based on the lectures given in The Royal Institute of Philosophy's annual lecture series for 2001–2002.

Philosophy and the Emotions
  • Edited by Anthony Hatzimoysis
  • Published online:
    06 January 2010
    Print publication:
    21 July 2003
  • This major volume of original essays maps the place of emotion in human nature, through a discussion of the relation between consciousness and body; by analysing the importance of emotion for human agency by pointing to the ways in which practical rationality may be enhanced, as well as hindered, by emotions; and by exploring questions of value in making sense of emotions at a political, ethical and personal level. Leading researchers in the field reflect on the nature of human feelings, how and why we understand what other people feel, and the way in which our values become involved in specific emotional phenomena, such as guilt, fear, shame, amusement, or love. This collection addresses important questions in the philosophy of mind and comments on the implications of research in biology, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, and narrative theory for the philosophical understanding of emotions.

Logic, Thought and Language
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    24 October 2002
  • Much contemporary philosophical debate centres on the topics of logic, thought and language, and on the connections between these topics. This collection of articles is based on the Royal Institute of Philosophy's annual lecture series for 2000–2001. Its contributors include a number of those working at the forefront of the field, and in their papers they reflect their own current pre-occupations. As such, the volume will be of interest to all philosophers, whether their own work is within the areas of language and thought or not.

Time, Reality and Experience
  • Edited by Craig Callender
  • Published online:
    05 May 2010
    Print publication:
    15 August 2002
  • Why does time seem to flow in one direction? Can we influence the past? Is only the present real? Does relativity conflict with our common understanding of time? How does time relate to free will? Could science do away with time? These questions and others about time are among the most puzzling problems in philosophy and science. In this exciting collection of original articles, eminent philosophers propose novel answers to these and other questions. Based on the latest research in philosophy and physics, these essays will be enjoyable to anyone with a speculative turn of mind.

Naturalism, Evolution and Mind
  • Edited by D. M. Walsh
  • Published online:
    10 May 2010
    Print publication:
    30 August 2001
  • This collection of original essays covers a wide range of issues in current naturalised philosophy of mind. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which concepts drawn from evolutionary biology might enhance our understanding of the place of mind in the natural world. Issues covered include the advantages of construing the mind as an adaptation, the naturalisation of intentional and phenomenal content, the evolution of means-end reasoning, rationality and higher-order intentionality, methodological issues in cognitive ethology and evolutionary psychology.

Philosophy and Public Affairs
  • Edited by John Haldane
  • Published online:
    20 May 2010
    Print publication:
    28 August 2000
  • This collection of essays derives from a conference sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy and the Centre of Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St Andrews. It brings together a number of prominent academics from the fields of philosophy and political theory along with politicians and social commentators. The subjects covered include liberalism, education, welfare policy, religion, art and culture, and cloning. The mix of contributors and the topicality of the subject matter should further promote a serious engagement between philosophy and public life.

German Philosophy since Kant
  • Edited by Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    29 September 2009
    Print publication:
    04 November 1999
  • This collection of essays from the Royal Institute of Philosophy shows the connections and interrelations between the analytic and hermeneutic strains in German philosophy since Kant, partly to challenge the idea that there are two separate, non-communicating traditions. The distinguished contributors include Robert Solomon writing on Nietzsche, Michael Inwood on Heidegger, P. M. S. Hacker on Frege and Wittgenstein, Christopher Janaway on Schopenhauer, Thomas Uebel on Neurath and the Vienna Circle, and Jay Bernstein on Adorno. The collection is rounded off by a paper by Jürgen Habermas specifically on hermeneutic and analytic philosophy.

Contemporary Issues in the Philosophy of Mind
  • Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    12 May 2010
    Print publication:
    13 November 1998
  • What is the mind? How does it relate to the body and the world? What is consciousness? What is experience? How free are we? Do we have special insights into ourselves? These perennial questions are at the forefront of the philosophical concerns today. Much of the most exciting and innovative work in philosophy at the present time is being done in the philosophy of mind. The best of this work is represented in this collection, based on the Royal Institute of Philosophy's annual lecture series for 1996/7. It brings together leading figures in the area from Britain and the US, who lay out their thoughts on key issues in an accessible way. The book will be of great interest both to those working in the field and to those keen to discover just where philosophy and the philosophy of mind is moving at the end of the twentieth century.

Thought and Language
  • John Preston
  • Published online:
    04 August 2010
    Print publication:
    13 May 1998
  • The relationship between thought and language has been of central importance to philosophy ever since Plato characterised thinking as 'a dialogue the soul has with itself'. In this volume, several major twentieth-century philosophers of mind and language make further contributions to the debate. Among the questions addressed are: is language conceptually prior to thought, or vice versa? Must thought take place 'in' a medium? To what extent can creatures without language be credited with thoughts? Do we have to suppose that thinking involves the use of concepts? What does it mean to have and deploy a concept? How do recent psychological experiments bear on these issues? Are beliefs, desires, hopes and fears rightly construed as 'attitudes towards propositions'? Should twentieth-century philosophy be conceived of in terms of Michael Dummett's distinction between 'analytical philosophy' and the 'philosophy of thought'?

Verstehen and Humane Understanding
  • Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    17 May 2010
    Print publication:
    01 May 1997
  • This 1997 collection of essays addresses topics that are of crucial importance to the lives of us all. Is there a mode of thinking peculiar to human life and its concerns, which is different from and irreducible to scientific rationality? Is historical understanding different from scientific understanding? Do psychology, religion and aesthetics have their own forms of rationality? Can you be rational about human life without being scientific? The contributors address these and related questions, some focusing on the history of the development of the notion of Verstehen, others examining particular areas of discourse and practice.

Philosophy and Pluralism
  • David Archard
  • Published online:
    30 October 2009
    Print publication:
    26 April 1996
  • We inhabit a world of differences - cultural, religious, moral, philosophical. The question that preoccupies the contributors to this volume is whether the fact of difference - plurality - inevitably leads to the conclusion that there cannot be a single truth, even in moral matters. As befits a volume on pluralism, it brings together a wide variety of contributors with different backgrounds and distinctive skills and attitudes. The implications of plurality are examined with regard to religion, morality and philosophy itself, but the essays range widely to consider how we should respond at the social and political levels to the facts of plurality and the claims of the pluralist. No reader will be left in any doubt that the debate about pluralism raises questions that are fundamental not only for philosophical argumentation but for society at large.

Karl Popper
  • Philosophy and Problems
  • Anthony O'Hear
  • Published online:
    19 January 2010
    Print publication:
    28 March 1996
  • Few philosophers in this century have had either Karl Popper's range or his influence, inside and outside philosophy. This collection of essays by fifteen distinguished philosophers, several of whom have been closely associated with Popper and his work, provides a timely assessment of Popper's contributions in a number of key areas: the methodology and philosophy of science; probability and determinism; quantum theory; biology; the theory of evolution; and the theory and practice of politics. The volume offers the specialist and the general reader alike fresh insights into the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most original thinkers.

Philosophy and Technology
  • Roger Fellows
  • Published online:
    27 October 2009
    Print publication:
    14 December 1995
  • This collection of essays examines the philosophical and cultural aspects of technology. The issues range widely - from quantum technology to problems of technology and culture in a developing country and contributors approach the issues from a variety of perspectives. The volume includes case-studies, and also more theoretical pieces which consider the fundamental question of whether technology should be perceived as a force for liberation or enslavement. The volume aims to stimulate debate about the relation between technology and philosophy and society in general, and to open a field of enquiry that has been relatively neglected. Written in an accessible style, the contributions are intended equally for philosophers exploring the novel problems arising in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but also for technologists interested in the philosophical implications of their work.

Philosophy, Psychology and Psychiatry
  • A. Phillips Griffiths
  • Published online:
    03 May 2011
    Print publication:
    30 March 1995
  • Philosophy of mind as traditionally understood has rarely engaged directly with psychology and psychiatry. This collection establishes the importance of this interdisciplinary approach and explores new directions in the 'philosophy of psychiatry and psychology'. The essays are by a distinguished group of contributors whose interests and expertise embrace the cognitive, biological and medical sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities. The topics are wide ranging and raise fundamental questions such as what establishes personality or personal identity; how should insanity - or sanity - be defined; what is 'consent'? Readers, like the contributors, will come from a wide range of backgrounds, and find the volume suggests new approaches and offers new insights.

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