Renford Bambrough and the Roots of Reason

The first collection of key writings by Cambridge philosopher Renford Bambrough, on topics ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Wittgenstein and Peirce, and from metaphysics and philosophical method to ethics and aesthetics.By bringing together the most representative and most influential of Bambrough’s work, this selection of his writing marks the importance of his contribution to the history of analytic philosophy. John E. MacKinnon selects papers that demonstrate Bambrough's lucidity and view of philosophy as, not just the mother discipline of the liberal arts, but the generous discipline, shedding light on issues that affect all others. For Bambrough, this is philosophy’s most important function, not just to rehearse old arguments, but to invite others to appreciate different and deeper ways of thinking.Across a set of papers spanning his time at Cambridge, we see how he sought to keep vivid the continuities between art and philosophy. This collection illustrates Bambrough's sustained interest in metaphysical and ethical questions, the philosophy of religion, aesthetics, and the nature of philosophy itself.