Intelligibility without meaning: Nagel, and the cosmos

Abstract: Cosmic questions concern the relationship between the meaning we attribute to our lives and the cosmos within which such lives are situated. After explaining why such questions are liable to seem problematic, this article considers two responses to the envisaged difficulties. The first, a dismissive philosophical response, is itself dismissed. And, the second, which takes into account the socio-historical context of these difficulties, points towards Richard Rorty’s idea of radical self-reliance as a solution. Thomas Nagel’s exceptionalism, his reluctance to accept either of these responses is then criticized on the grounds that it resurrects a conception of the religious temperament that is no longer tenable.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Intelligibility without meaning: Nagel, and the cosmos ; volume:29 ; number:4 ; year:2019 ; pages:395-403 ; extent:9 ; Human affairs ; 29, Heft 4 (2019), 395-403 (gesamt 9)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Malachowski, Alan

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/humaff-2019-0034
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022111813475363247337
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 16.08.2025, 6:49 AM CEST