Radical Philosophy Reader

The Radical Philosophy movement started in 1971 as an alternative to the analytical philosophy dominant in the English-speaking world. It challenges the restrictiveness of analytical philosophy on three general counts: on its trivialising conception of philosophy as linguistic analysis; on its systematic ignorance of 19th and 20th century Continental thought; and on its blindness to the revolutionary philosophical significance of socialism. The policy of the Radical Philosophy Group is to explore and encourage exploration beyond these orthodox boundaries.

Its magazine, Radical Philosophy, from which the items in this volume are taken, probably has the biggest circulation of any philosophical journal ever. It has for the first time established a foothold for socialist philosophy in Britain. Radical Philosophy has also attempted to overcome the enforced isolation of different disciplines and the barriers between the academy and ordinary political life. The articles in this reader represent the way these tasks have been confronted during the seventies and eighties. Covering a wide range of topics the book reflects the impact of Continental philosophers on the English philosophical scene, the persistence of questions of morality, science and language and the changing nature of philosophical trends during the last decade.