Arthur Danto

Connections to the World

The Basic Concepts of Philosophy

With a new preface.

$21.95, £14.95 paperback

9780520208421

Available Now

306 pages, 6 x 9 inches,
March 1997, Available worldwide

Description
Reviews
Author Bio

Arthur C. Danto's lucid introduction to the central topics of Western philosophical thought remains an unparalleled guide to problems in metaphysics and epistemology that have engaged philosophers for several millennia. Examining the work of Plato, Berkeley, Descartes, Hume, and Wittgenstein, Danto explores debates about empiricism, the mind/body problem, the nature of matter, and the status of language, consciousness, and scientific explanation. In a new preface to this edition he considers the current relationship between philosophy and the humanities.

"Danto is as skillful and subtle as philosophers get, and his book is an admirable exhibition of what happens when you take these concepts seriously. There is no better introduction to this school of philosophy."Richard Rorty, Newsday

"An elegant, unifying overview of philosophical thought. . . . One of the main pleasures of the book is Mr. Danto's cultural and historical breadth of reference. . . both sophisticated and accessible."—Julia Annas,New York Times Book Review

Arthur C. Danto is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University and art critic for The Nation. He is a past president of the American Philosophical Association and the author of more than fifteen books, including Encounters and Reflections (California paperback, 1996) and Playing with the Edge: The Photographic Achievement of Robert Mapplethorpe (California, 1995).