Jan 17, 2012
Philip Kitcher reviews Derek Parfit's On What Matters
By David Brown | Posted at 9:30:43
The Lure of the Peak—Philip Kitcher reviews Derek Parfit's On What Matters (New Republic 1-11-12)
One prediction is almost undeniable. On What Matters will be the subject of innumerable graduate seminars, a book to be pored over for weeks and months by apprentice philosophers and their mentors, a source for journal articles that will refine a principle here or challenge an argument there. It will be a paradigm in the original, uncorrupted sense of the word, one that will give rise to a professional practice of philosophizing. But will it-or should it-have an impact on broader cultural discussions, shaping future thoughts about what we ought to do or want or aspire to become?