Abstract

Sellars was one of the few systematic philosophers in the analytic tradition but he never published a magnum opus. Though his profound and complex philosophical endeavours were all tied together into a many-dimensional worldview, the dimensions of this worldview were built bit-bybit throughout his philosophical career. His papers, collections of essays, public lectures and lecture notes deal with almost every philosophical issue. One can easily see in them a megaintellect—a genius—thinking deeply and carefully about hard philosophical problems, taking the reader by the hand, as it were, and unveiling to her not only the complexity of the problems under discussion but also the hard-won truth that in philosophy there is no black and white: new insights can be gained and fresh light can be cast on old problems only by utilising the best thoughts of, and striking a balance between, competing philosophical traditions and thinkers