Philosophy's Cool Place

Ludwig Wittgenstein established a "cool" stance for philosophy, contemplating the world without meddling in it. D. Z. Phillips explores this position, focusing on its implications for philosophical authorship and the philosophical investigation of the nature of reality.Influenced by the views of Wittgenstein and his pupil Rush Rhees, Phillips—who is one of Rhees's own students—first contrasts Wittgenstein's methods with Kierkegaard's religiously oriented dialectic. He describes the difficulty in sustaining a contemplative view of philosophy and discusses efforts to go beyond it in the work of Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Annette Baier, and Martha Nussbaum, who, in different ways, propose to make philosophy a guide to living. A provocative and challenging work, Philosophy's Cool Place is one of the few books that addresses the discipline as an enterprise and explores its relation to moral values, religious belief, and the nature of Reality. By advancing the cause of neutrality, it will stimulate debate and foster discussion of what philosophy is to become in the postmodern era.

Phillips is right to point out that it is increasingly difficult to maintain the integrity of pure, theoretical activity 'in a technological culture that emphasizes finding answers and solutions'. Moreover, it is well worth the noting that some thinkers that explicitly endorse a position of endorsing no position in fact fail to do as they prescribe;... Hypocrisy is as rife among the devotees of mere conversations as it once was among the truth seekers., My admiration of D. Z. Phillips's philosophy of religion has always been considerable, though tempered by virtually diametrical disagreement. But I find this essay, which treats of more general philosophical questions, among the most interesting and perceptive of his publications.

D. Z. Phillips is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Rush Rhees Professor Emeritus, University of Wales, Swansea, Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, California. Phillips is the author of many books, including On the Problem of Evil, Religion and Friendly Fire, and Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation.