Philosophical Interpretations

Robert Fogelin here collects fifteen of his essays, organized around the theme of interpreting philosophical texts. The book begins with an essay that lays down a set of principles governing the interpretation of difficult texts. Fogelin places particular emphasis on understanding the argumentative or dialectical role that passages play in the specific context in which they occur. The somewhat surprising result of taking this principle seriously is that certain traditional, well-worked texts are given a radical re-interpretation. Certain seemingly implausible positions are found to have more merit than has usually been attributed to them. Throughout the essays reprinted here, Fogelin argues that, when carefully read, the philosophical position under consideration has more merit than commonly believed. Included are essays dealing with texts from the works of Plato, Aquinas, Hume, Berkeley, Kant, Price, Hamilton, and Wittgenstein. With three exceptions, the selections were first published in major journals. Two appeared as part of collections, and one is new to this volume.