Abstract

Similar circumstances to those Professor Blanshard records have prevented my receiving the May, 1980, issue of Idealistic Studies, and only now by consulting a library copy have I seen his reply to my paper “Reason and Rationalism.” I crave the privilege of responding to his defense of his position, if only because it would be most regrettable to create the impression that two persons with philosophical views so closely akin could so far fail to understand one another. I did preface my criticism of Professor Blanshard with the caveat that I was uncertain if I had understood him aright, and now that he has explained many points more fully, I can see that I had not—at least in several respects. Equally I seem not to have made my own position properly clear to him, and in all probability also not to others. Sometimes where I have tried to present a position I did not hold, he has attributed that position to me; at others he has not grasped the implications of the view I wished to advocate. Accordingly, I am seeking this opportunity to remove what I am convinced are misunderstandings on both sides.