The author investigates how the conception of legal validity as a specific mode of existence, adopted by Kelsen in Allgemeine Theorie der Normen (General Theory of Norms), can be reconciled with a conception of the legal system in which conflicts of legal norms remain of logical concern. To this end he makes use of Ludwig Wittgenstein's picture theory of the proposition as set out in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The conclusion is that in order to reconcile the two conceptions, the legal (...) system itself must be conceived of as consisting of three sub-systems, namely, (i) a sub-system of perceptible legal judgments, (ii) a sub-system of valid legal conditions, and (iii) a sub-system of observable social practices. (shrink)

The article is concerned with the question of how legal institutions are structured with the use of constitutive, institutive, consequential, and terminative rules. To that end, the regulation of international treaties as laid down in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 is analysed. This leads to the discovery of two additional categories of rules: content rules and invalidating rules. Finally, the special status of unique legal institutions is investigated. Unique legal institutions – for example, heads of (...) state, parliaments, and supreme courts – enjoy validity in a legal system to the exclusion of the validity of any other legal institution of the same category in that system. (shrink)

It is well known that Kant was stirred from his "dogmatic slumber" by the writings of David Hume. It is not well known that Hume had a similar effect upon his contemporary Thomas Reid. Yet it was Hume who led Reid to see that the path along which British Empiricism was moving might well end in Pyrrhonian skepticism-Hume's denial to the contrary. Interest in the writings of Reid has been increasing in recent years. One reason is that the range of (...) Reid's philosophical inquiry covers a number of areas which attract a good deal of attention today. Reid offers interesting and often significant insights into aspects of epistemology, philosophy of mind, aesthetics, and philosophy of action. His philosophy has contributed to the writings of such men as G. E. Moore, C. S. Peirce, R. Chisholm, P. Winch, to mention only a few. This new edition of An Inquiry Into the Human Mind follows closely upon the heels of new editions of Reid's Essays on the Active Powers of Man and Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, both of which appeared in 1969. In introducing this latest edition, Duggan chose to concentrate his attention upon one aspect of Reid's thought rather than offer a rapid and perhaps superficial treatment of the multifaceted thinking of this 18th century philosopher. Duggan's critical analysis of Reid's interpretation of sensation and perception is invaluable for introducing the reader to Reid's philosophical alternative to Hume. It was this alternative which came to be known as the philosophy of common sense.--W. P. G. (shrink)

This selection of readings in ethics is divided into five parts: Classical and Medieval Intellectualist Thought; Dialectical Thought; American Naturalistic Thought; Analytic-Positivist Thought; Existentialist and Post-Existentialist Thought. An anthology such as this one is needed to balance the limited selections offered in the area of morality contained in the anthologies dealing with philosophy in general. For example Part II contains selections from Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Marx, and Engels. And Part III features James, Dewey, Edel, Hook, Romanell, and Dennes. It would (...) not be possible to include the majority of these authors' writings on ethics in an anthology dealing with philosophy generally. This anthology could best be used in introductory courses in ethics. Some of the introductions given to each of the five parts are good and the rest are adequate. At the end of each reading there are questions designed to guide the reading and discussion. This could have been omitted without any loss to the anthology. At the conclusion of each part there is a limited list of recommended readings. For the beginning student of ethical theory Approaches To Morality offers a quick but fairly inclusive view of the various ways in which some individuals have approached the philosophical problems inherent in a study of morality.--W. P. G. (shrink)

In this collection of essays, Feinberg gathers together a number of articles which he has written over the past few years, most of which have appeared in print elsewhere. The few changes made for the present edition do not alter the fundamental content of any of the articles. In the introduction, Feinberg suggests that just as there are general areas of philosophical interest called "theory of value," "theory of knowledge," etc., so there should similarly be a general rubric for the (...) area dealing with questions which are applicable both to the philosophy of law and moral philosophy. For this purpose, Feinberg chooses "theory of responsibility." Both the title of the book and the name for this area of philosophical concern reflect the difficulties inherent in this general area. "Doing" can be applied to an individual who performs actions. Does "deserving" have an equivalent extension? "Responsibility" is a concept which covers both the moral notion of "culpability" and the legal notion of "liability." But is the same criterion for application of the concept of responsibility operative in both the legal and moral domains? Is the concept of "at fault" used univocally in moral and legal contexts? These are just a few of the many questions which arise when discussing a "theory of responsibility." Feinberg has answers for some. He points readers in a direction from which other answers might be found. If nothing else this book is a good launching pad into an area of philosophical concern which is just beginning to be explored.--W. P. G. (shrink)

Macquarrie is thorough in his coverage of the subject matter, precise in the exposition of his thought, and creative in his attempt to explicate the principles upon which a Christian theology for the twentieth century can be based. In Twentieth Century Religious Thought, Macquarrie concluded that religion and philosophy need each other. There he claimed that from the philosophical side attention should be paid to Martin Heidegger, and from the religious side one should look at Bultmann and Tillich. Macquarrie has (...) done just this in Principles of Christian Theology. This book is divided into three main parts: philosophical theology, symbolic theology, and applied theology. Although there is much of significance in the last two sections, it is in the first one that the author makes his distinctive contribution to theology. His approach is phenomenological. This leads him to an existential interpretation of theology. What he arrived at by means of this approach he called "Existential-Ontological Theism." Although there are some theologians who may have a few doubts as to whether or not Macquarrie has reached his conclusions by stretching some fundamental interpretations too far, it still remains a certainty that this book opens up a new and creative approach to some of the traditional concepts of theology which have been under so much fire in the last few decades.—W. P. G. (shrink)

Following the lead of Kant more fully than the master himself, Muyskens defends the thesis that so-called "religious beliefs," or at least fundamental ones like the beliefs in the existence of God and life after death, should be construed more on the model of hope than on the model of belief, as we find the latter in more mundane contexts. He is not so hardy as to claim that religious believers generally hold their beliefs as hopes. On the contrary, he (...) recognizes that in much of the Christian tradition there is a stress on certainty and confidence that God exists and that our life will continue beyond the grave, and on the cosmic security provided by Christian faith. Muyskens's position is that religious belief can be justifiably held only if it takes something like the form of hope. To undergird this position he provides an analysis of hope as a propositional attitude, hoping that p, with some glances at treatments of hope by Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume, and Gabriel Marcel. S hopes that p if and only if: S desires that p; It is not the case that p is not preferred by S on balance, or that S believes that q, which he prefers on balance, is incompatible with p; Neither p nor not-p is certain for S; S is disposed to act as if p. (shrink)

In all of the writings of Martin Buber there is one major theme which serves as a peg upon which he hangs most of his further thoughts. Nahum Glatzer uses this underlying theme, interpreting it as a "way of response," and brings together selections from many of Buber's works. Thus not only does the reader see the centrality of the "way of response" for this great Jewish thinker, but he captures a feeling for the man himself as well. The "way (...) of response" is not a concept expounded but a life lived, and the selections Glatzer employs in his book brings this out very well.—W. P. G. (shrink)