Reviews for The Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Reassessment

The average rating for The Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Reassessment based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-08-19 00:00:00 Michael Eubanks This is a good book. Very technical so I would only recommend this to those who are highly educated in philosophy and who have a decent grasp of formal logic. I absolutely would not recommend this to a beginner who is looking into the PSR. In the first section, Pruss offers a detailed history and definition of the PSR. In the second section, he thoroughly explores various attacks on the PSR and meticulously deconstructs, critiques and refutes them. In the third, he offers justifications/assesses various justifications of the PSR. Sections one and two were brilliant, but two was little tedious (perhaps reasonably so as the critiques of the PSR were technical and required a requisitely technical response). But I do think he put a bit too much stock in the objections than was proportional to their force however and he was too modest in his rejection of them. Section 3 was a decent defence of the PSR however it was very very modest (and characteristically technical). He explores various arguments for the sufficiency of the PSR (and assesses the plausibility of them also). He also provides defences to the criticisms of those justifications and assesses their ultimate plausibility. The conclusion, it should be noted, was unduly modest in my opinion (but perhaps that's because I simply lack a deep appreciation for the force of the objections). In all a good book that does a very thorough job of defending and justifying the PSR. Truly an essential work on the subject and deserving of high praise for its depth and for the genius of the author. But if you are looking for a dramatic and compelling defence of the PSR I would look elsewhere. I realistically won't read this book again (although I liked it). I much prefer the book 'Necessary Existence'.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-10-11 00:00:00 Michael Giammatteo This metanarrative of continental philosophy deserves to become the standard text in philosophy classrooms. Intricately organized with precise articulation and a slough of juicy primary quotes, this is how you will learn the facets of Western continental thought. As Braver admits, he leaves out significant movements like the Frankfurt School, Deleuze, and Gadamer, but the book is already 500 pages, so I can't blame him. Even if you already know this subject well, it's still worth just grabbing this book for the bibliography.