Paul Weiss

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The Philosophy of Paul Weiss


(Volume XXIII, 1995)

Broad, original, dynamic, prolific, and imaginative, Paul Weiss has made major contributions to several branches of philosophy, and because of him philosophy in this country is different for the better, more diverse, more vital, and more important.

As a speculative thinker he has tackled the great questions in philosophy and urged both the general public and other philosophers to do likewise in their own way. Readers will be interested in hearing how Paul Weiss the master of abstraction came to write about art and how he prepared for this by learning to draw and paint and engage in various other art forms. I am happy to report that we have managed to include a small sampling of his drawings in the volume.

In view of what he has written and what he has done for philosophy, it is especially important that his views be clarified and highlighted by the kind of critical exchange with twenty-eight of his leading critics provided in this volume.

Table of Contents

Paul Weiss: Intellectual Autobiography 

Paul Weiss

(Replies follow essays)

Hans Lenk: Metaphysics, Interpretation and the Subject 
John Lachs: Metaphysics and the Social Construction of Human Nature 
Daniel O. Dahlstrom: The Dunamis of Explanation 
Paul G. Kuntz: Cosmos and Chaos: Weiss's Systematic Categorization of the Universe 
Andrew J. Reck: The Five Ontologies of Paul Weiss 
George R. Lucas, Jr.: Philosophical Inquiry and Reflective Historical Engagement--Some Right and Wrong Uses of History in Philosophy 
Thomas R. Flynn: History and Histories: Weiss and the Problematization of the Historical 
Nathan Rotenstreich: Experience and Possibilities 
Sandra Rosenthal: Paul Weiss and Pragmatism: A Dialogue 
Kevin Kennedy: Adumbration and Metaphysics after Pragmatism 
Jay Schulkin: Paul Weiss's Vision of Philosophy and Nature 
Eric Walther: The Self Revisited 
David Weissman: Method 
Abner E. Shimony: The Transient Now 
Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley: Is Adventurous Humility Possible?: The One for the Many 
Eugene T. Long: Philosophy and Religious Pluralism 
Robert C. Neville: Paul Weiss's Theology 
Robert Castiglione: Weiss's Early Substitutional Logic: The Rejection and Interpretation of Russell's Paradoxes of Self-Reference 
Eugenio Benitez: Paul Weiss, Metaphysics and the Problem of Induction 
Richard L. Barber: Real Possibility and Moral Obligation 
Antonio S. Cua: Reasonable Persons and the Good: Reflections on an Aspect of Weiss' Ethical Thought 
Thomas Krettek: Paul Weiss and the Foundations of Political Philosophy 
William J. Desmond: Creativity and the Dunamis 
George Kimball Plochmann: System, Method, and Style in a Philosophy of Art 
Carl R. Hausman: Paul Weiss's Account of the Dynamic Structure of Creative Acts 
Robert E. Wood: Paul Weiss: Metaphysics and Aesthetics 
Daniel A. Dombrowski: Weiss, Sport, and the Greek Ideal 
Spencer K. Wertz: The Metaphysics of Sport: The Play as Process

Bibliography of the Writings of Paul Weiss