Regimes of description Book

This work is divided into three parts: Metaphysics, Ethics and Aesthetics, and Studies in American Philosophy. The section on ethics was by far my favorite--mostly because each chapter presupposes a wealth of philosophical background on the part of the reader, and since I'm most well-versed in ethics it was much easier there to follow the lines of thought. Most appreciated is Putnam's rejection of the fact/value distinction.

However, the other two sections weren't as great. The section on metaphysics worked to make me realize that I care less about the realism/anti-realism debate than I thought I did. Although, it may have just been his style that did that. Putnam spends a lot of time here philosophizing about philosophy, and his tone vacillates between arrogant and a tiresome brand of intellectual exceptionism. He's adamant about a rejection of a correspondence theory of truth, but, I confess, that's the only position that's ever made any sort of possible sense to me.

Studies in American Philosophy deals with specific philosophers--mostly William James, Quine, and Pierce. James is an interesting figure, but Putnam places much more stock in his philosophy than I ever could. Quine is given a long-winded treatment, and Putnam's reliance on terminology from a variety of other writers whose work I'm unfamiliar with made his discussion difficult to grasp. Peirce's chapter is mostly a history of logic, and the vindication of Pierce's position in history, but it was not something I found myself too excited about.

I guess I would say only about half of this thing I actually enjoyed reading.