Philosophy and the Human Paradox

Having been a student at Balliol College, Oxford from 1948 to 1951, Alan Montefiore spent the next ten years as a Lecturer in Philosophy at the then new University College of North Staffordshire (later to become the University of Keele). In 1961 he returned to Balliol as a Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy, retiring just over 30 years later. Since then, he has, among many other things, served as the first President of the Forum for European Philosophy, now the Forum for Philosophy.Danielle Sands is Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and Fellow at the Forum for Philosophy, LSE. Her monograph, Animal Writing: Storytelling, Selfhood and the Limits of Empathy was published in 2019.

• Editor’s Introduction Danielle SandsPart I: The Nature of Philosophy Doing Philosophy (in one way or another) The Idea of ‘Crisis’ in Philosophy Frontiers of PhilosophyPart II: Reason and Paradox Kant, Paradox and Meta-Paradox: Problems of Self-Identity Reason and its Self-Undoing? Reason and Reasoning: Truth, Truthfulness and Integrity The Universal and the Particular – A Kantian Account of the Elements of Self-identityPart III: Values and Responsibilities Lévinas and the Claims of Incommensurable Values The Political Responsibilities of Intellectuals Doctrinal Commitments and Ecumenical PartnershipAn Inconclusive Conclusion

"Montefiore’s is a unique voice with a message that is permanently of value—deep-reaching and disconcerting. Philosophy and the Human Paradox may destabilize many readers’ convictions and it may well induce readers to re-read philosophical works in a new way." – Steven Lukes, New York University, USA