A Thing of This World - A History of Continental Anti-Realism

At a time when the analytic/continental split dominates contemporary philosophy, this ambitious work offers a careful and clear-minded way to bridge that divide. Combining conceptual rigor and clarity of prose with historical erudition, A Thing of This World shows how one of the standard issues of analytic philosophy—realism and anti-realism—has also been at the heart of continental philosophy.

Using a framework derived from prominent analytic thinkers, Lee Braver traces the roots of anti-realism to Kant's idea that the mind actively organizes experience. He then shows in depth and in detail how this idea evolves through the works of Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida. This narrative presents an illuminating account of the history of continental philosophy by explaining how these thinkers build on each other's attempts to develop new concepts of reality and truth in the wake of the rejection of realism. Braver demonstrates that the analytic and continental traditions have been discussing the same issues, albeit with different vocabularies, interests, and approaches. By developing a commensurate vocabulary, his book promotes a dialogue between the two branches of philosophy in which each can begin to learn from the other.

"It is the sort of book that everyone working in the continental tradition, and many in the analytic tradition, will want to read... Braver's real strength is his sweeping synoptic vision of continentalism from Kant to Derrida, backed by triple the needed homework to make this vision tangible. The book deserves great success, and Braver ought to become a household name in continental circles... It would be hard to ask for a more thoroughly researched work on the topic, or for one more honest or more technically precise... A landmark."--Philosophy Today

"This is a superb book, and potentially an important book. It is addressed to analytic and continental philosophers alike without sacrificing either of the strengths of those traditions: conceptual rigor and clarity of prose on the one hand, historical depth and careful erudition on the other. . . . It is high time our profession embarks on some serious scholarship in this field, and Lee Braver seems to be the one to lead that effort."--John Protevi, editor of A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy

"A Thing of This World is an impressive and valuable achievement. . . that could do a lot to help apnalytical and continental philosophers understand each other. Lee Braver shows an amazing overalla knowledge of the relevant primary and secondary sources, and his analyses of the philosophers he takes up. . . are admirably clear and free from jargon. His Heideggarian critique of Davidson on language, for example, casts new light on the approaches of both thinkers."--Hubert L. Dreyfus, professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley