Philosophical Topics

Volume 43, Issue 1/2, Spring/Fall 2015

The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics

Graham Priest
Pages 285-299

Stop Making Sense

This paper discusses the major theme of Adrian Moore’s The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics. Moore argues that the philosophical theories of many modern Western philosophers, seen as the project of making sense of the world—in the most general sense of that notion—lead to self-referential contradiction. I agree with him. Moore takes this as a sign that this project requires the need of some non-propositional notion of making sense. Contrary to this, I argue (as in Beyond the Limits of Thought) that it simply indicates the dialetheias at the limits of the project.