Summary

Any sound practical philosophy must be clear on practical conceptsâe"concepts, in particular, of life, action, and practice. This clarity is Michael Thompsonâe(tm)s aim in his ambitious work. In Thompsonâe(tm)s view, failure to comprehend the structures of thought and judgment expressed in these concepts has disfigured modern moral philosophy, rendering it incapable of addressing the larger questions that should be its focus.

In three investigations, Thompson considers life, action, and practice successively, attempting to exhibit these interrelated concepts as pure categories of thought, and to show how a proper exposition of them must be Aristotelian in character. He contends that the pure character of these categories, and the Aristotelian forms of reflection necessary to grasp them, are systematically obscured by modern theoretical philosophy, which thus blocks the way to the renewal of practical philosophy. His work recovers the possibility, within the tradition of analytic philosophy, of hazarding powerful generalities, and of focusing on the larger issuesâe"like âeoelifeâe#157;âe"that have the power to revive philosophy.

As an attempt to relocate crucial concepts from moral philosophy and the theory of action into what might be called the metaphysics of life, this original work promises to reconfigure a whole sector of philosophy. It is a work that any student of contemporary philosophy must grapple with.

Choice Review

Thompson (Univ. of Pittsburgh) here extends and deepens readers' understanding of practice and practical thought. This work, which is divided into three investigations, illuminatingly integrates many branches of philosophy. "Representation of Life" is organized around such concepts as life, living being, and life-form or species. "Naive Action Theory" centers on such concepts as action, intention, wanting, and reason for action. The final investigation--"Practical Generality"--is organized around the concepts of practical disposition and social practice. The earlier investigations provide the foundation for the later ones, so that the book has an admirable unity and structure. The Aristotelianism of Thompson's project is marked, but with a contemporary analytical emphasis. Thompson pursues arguments rigorously, though his writing sometimes makes reading tough going. This important book will be extremely useful for graduate students and faculty in philosophy. One may usefully compare (and contrast) it with P. M. S. Hacker's Human Nature: The Categorial Framework (CH, Sep'08, 46-0209), which covers many (and more) of the concepts studied in Thompson's first two investigations. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty/researchers. H. Oberdiek Swarthmore College