MEANING AND USE OF PHILOSOPHY

RYLE, GILBERT.

Dilemmas. The Tarner Lectures. 1953.

Cambridge University Press, 1954. 8vo. Orig. blue full cloth w. gilt lettering to spine, a bit of wear to extremities. Orig. blue and white dust-jacket w. some soiling to spine and spotting to upper part of front jacket, a few small nick causing minor loss to upper part. Internally nice and clean. W. bookplate of John Hind Charles and owner's name to front free end-paper. (6), 129 pp.

First edition of Ryle's second main work, in which he sets out to discuss true issues and dilemmas of the actual life of man.

Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976) was an immensely influential British philosopher, who represented the ordinary language philosophers so strongly influenced by Wittgenstein. He was also greatly influenced by Bertrand Russell and his theory of descriptions and the conception of analysis embodied in that. Influenced by the idea of misleading expressions, which can be sorted out only with the help of logic, Ryle establishes his view of philosophy as cartography. Just like the inhabitants of a space on earth can talk about that space to the cartographer, so the ordinary user of a language can talk to the philosopher. However, in both cases the practical knowledge of the ordinary user must be transformed into the universal terms of the expert in order for him to say anything meaningful.

In his "Dilemmas" Ryle, with the aid of the tools of the practicing philosopher, solves a number of puzzles for everyday man and makes him understand the meaning and use of philosophy in general.

Order-nr.: 35827