Emphatics (review)

Abstract

To read any book by Paul Weiss is to enter into an ongoing philosophical discussion. Emphatics is no exception. Here Weiss takes up some issues from previous work but from a new angle of vision. Much of what he says also moves beyond the content of earlier writings, which is as it should be. "A creative, systematic philosopher," Weiss says, "is somewhat like a poet rewriting a long poem, preserving some parts of earlier versions in later ones. What has been done is not invalidated, but moved beyond" (37). Another characteristic Weissian feature marks Emphatics: it is difficult to read. The ideas themselves are difficult, and Weiss doesn't go out of his way to coddle his reader. Serving as his own interlocutor, Weiss addresses himself in chapter 8: "I must confess that much of what you say is darker than the middle of the night . . ." (177). But this also seems to me as it should be; good philosophy demands something of the reader. Weiss is hard at work throughout the book--projecting, reflecting, reconsidering--and he expects the reader to work hard as well.