Finitude, Illusion, and Sanity

Introduction

This monograph investigates, from a distinctive philosophical perspective informed by pragmatism, the relation between the transcendental and the transcendent.

Development of Pragmatic Transcendental Naturalism

It not only develops a viable form of pragmatic transcendental naturalism (which the author has defended in earlier works) but examines the intertwining themes of sanity and illusion, arising through critical considerations of approaches to transcendence that fail to take seriously human finitude.

Range of Issues Discussed

Issues discussed range from those found in metaphysics and epistemology to those in ethics and philosophy of religion. They are all intimately related to each other by offering variations of aspirations to reach toward transcendence – and, in many cases, of the illusoriness of those aspirations.

Analysis of Illusoriness

This illusoriness is something that requires thoroughgoing pragmatic and transcendental critique, combining argumentation strategies drawn from philosophers as different as Kant, Wittgenstein, and William James.

Implications for Philosophy of Religion

This critique leads, among other things, to a radical rearticulation of how philosophy of religion as a sub-discipline of philosophy ought to be practiced.

Target Audience

This text appeals to researchers and graduate students working in these fields.