Closure by Hilary Lawson, Routledge, £15.99, ISBN 0415136504
IMAGINE for a moment that philosophy’s challenge to “realism” is serious. The
idea that there is an external world out there, existing independently of our
observations and waiting to be discovered by science, would be just that: an
idea. Hilary Lawson’s modest project in Closure is to suggest how we would then
proceed with our inquiries.
If you’re interested in linguistic philosophy, or the psychology and
physiology of perception, do borrow this book. It will usefully shake up your
preconceptions about what is going on when, for example, you point at a…
