Bounds of Sense

P.F.Strawson was born in London in 1919. After serving as a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during World War Two he was appointed a fellow of University College Oxford in 1948. He first gained philosophical fame at the age of 29 in 1950, when he criticised Bertrand Russell's renowned Theory of Descriptions for failing to do justice to the richness of ordinary language. He was Waynflete Professor at Oxford from 1968-1987 and was knighted in 1977. He died in 2006.

• Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition – Lucy AllaisPrefacePart One: General ReviewPart Two: The Metaphysics of Experience Space and Time Objectivity and Unity Permanence and CausalityPart Three: Transcendent Metaphysics The Logic of Illusion Soul Cosmos GodPart Four: The Metaphysics of Transcendental IdealismPart Five: Kant’s Theory of GeometryIndex

'Strawson offers something which is to be found in very few books on this great philosopher: a discussion which is, on the one side, sympathetic, appreciative and well informed, without ever ceasing to be critical and independent on the other.' Philosophical Books‘ … his reconstruction of Kant's central argument was not only exciting in its own day, but remains a paradigm and a challenge for anyone else attempting a reconstruction of Kant's impressive but enigmatic argument that is to be both philologically and philosophically persuasive.’ Paul Guyer, Journal of the History of Philosophy‘What is most impressive of all … is Strawson’s ability to hold small points within the setting of the overall picture, moving from one scale to the other and back again without breathlessness. He has made himself at home in the Kantian intellectual world, and has learned to move easily and naturally in it, yet familiarity has not dulled the sharpness of his perception of what has to be rejected.’ Philosophical Review‘The title itself is a roguish stroke of genius.’ Mind