Emily Grosholz Livres

Blending philosophy, mathematics, and science, Emily Grosholz creates a rich tapestry of lyrical poetry that reflects her observations of the social and natural world. The collection begins with new poems that capture a year of experiences, followed by carefully selected works from her previous volumes, showcasing her evolution as a poet over four decades. This treasury highlights Grosholz's wisdom and cosmopolitan perspective, making it a significant contribution to contemporary poetry.

This book deals with a topic that has been largely neglected by philosophers of science to date: the ability to refer and analyze in tandem. On the basis of a set of philosophical case studies involving both problems in number theory and issues concerning time and cosmology from the era of Galileo, Newton and Leibniz up through the present day, the author argues that scientific knowledge is a combination of accurate reference and analytical interpretation. In order to think well, we must be able to refer successfully, so that we can show publicly and clearly what we are talking about. And we must be able to analyze well, that is, to discover productive and explanatory conditions of intelligibility for the things we are thinking about. The book’s central claim is that the kinds of representations that make successful reference possible and those that make successful analysis possible are not the same, so that significant scientific and mathematical work typically proceeds by means of a heterogeneous discourse that juxtaposes and often superimposes a variety of kinds of representation, including formal and natural languages as well as more iconic modes. It demonstrates the virtues and necessity of heterogeneity in historically central reasoning, thus filling an important gap in the literature and fostering a new, timely discussion on the epistemology of science and mathematics.

This book explicates Leibnizian analysis as a search for conditions of intelligibility, and reconsiders his use of principles and methods as well as his account of truth in this way. Via careful reading of well-known, lesser known, and previously unedited texts, it gives a more accurate picture of his philosophical intentions, as well as the relevance of his project to contemporary debate. Two case studies are included, one concerning logic and the other arithmetic; they illustrate a theory of intelligibility that takes as its central notion „possibility for thought“, a notion which allows Leibniz to escape certain traps of psychologism, the pseudo-ontology of empiricism, and the empty forms of logicism, and suggests new approaches for contemporary philosophy. „In this remarkable study, Grosholz and Yakira offer a fresh interpretive and conceptual angle on Leibniz’s metaphysics. […] this study deserves high marks for its subtlety, novelty, and creative insight into Leibniz’s modes of inquiry as well as for its philosophical acumen.“ Annals of Science