Overview

This book puts forward an interpretation of rationality which is much broader than the one underlying the current polarity between analytic and continental philosophy. It will help to reaffirm a range of ideas which have long been pushed to the sidelines by the dominance of the geometric model of philosophical argument. Descartes's dream of attaining a `certitude equal to the demonstrations of Arithmetic and Geometry' reinforced the assumption that rationality must be assessed in terms of logical structure. Against this, Pascal invoked the notion of `finesse', and Warner extends Pascal's usage in this book to specify a related set of informal but legitimate styles of argument.

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Reviews

'a useful addition to the group of works which recently have called attention of philosophers to the character of their own discourse on the grounds of the philosophical, not merely the ornamental significance of that analysis' Berel Lang, State University of New York at Albany, The Review of Metaphysics, March 1992 'Philosophical Finesse has much to offer to many readers. It is informed and informative. It is argued tightly and lives up to the expectations it creates in the reader ... it is researched carefully and extensively.' John Poulakos, University of Pittsburgh, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1994

In deriving his conviction that philosophy can seriously seek truth in areas poorly served by deductive methods, from the rigorous examination of seminal thinkers, Warner does philosophy a genuine service. --Theological Studies<br> In deriving his conviction that philosophy can seriously seek truth in areas poorly served by deductive methods, from the rigorous examination of seminal thinkers, Warner does philosophy a geniune service. Theological Studies<br>

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