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An original philosophical treatise on form and the foundations of social value.
The third volume in a trilogy by George Allan, The Patterns of the Present argues that organisms, persons, and cultures are all meaningful systems, and that the ontological conditions necessary for their sustained systemic unity provide a normative standard-ideals of virtue and responsibility-by which individuals can judge how best to live their lives and seek a common good. Allan, whose views are influenced by his distinctive interpretations of Plato, Kant, Whitehead, and Pragmatism, argues that values can be justified as objective conditions for belief and action without making an appeal to something beyond time and history.
"One of the most imaginative books in contemporary philosophy I have read." — Robert Cummings Neville, author of Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World
"A fine work in systematic philosophy. There is much thought and learning behind these pages, but the learning is worn lightly as the thoughtfulness shines through." — William Desmond, author of Ethics and the Between
George Allan is Professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College and Past President of the Metaphysical Society of America. Author of the other books in the trilogy, The Importances of the Past: A Meditation on the Authority of Tradition, The Realizations of the Future: An Inquiry into the Authority of Praxis, both published by SUNY Press, he has also most recently written Rethinking College Education, finalist for the 1999 Ness Prize, Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Preface
Tier 7. Structure
7.1 FoundationsTier 6. Hierarchy
7.2 Ideals
7.3 Systems
7.4 Organisms
7.5 Selves
7.6 Worlds
7.7 Histories
6.1 Nested ContextsTier 5. Duration
6.2 Ultimate Contexts
6.3 Organismic Individuals
6.4 Persons
6.5 Original Contexts
6.6 Final Context
5.1 Stabilizing VariationTier 4. Virtue
5.2 Maximizing Fitness
5.3 Interpreting Human Nature
5.4 Making Civil Society
5.5 Reconciling Histories
4.1 CharacterTier 3. Standard
4.2 Creativity
4.3 Commitment
4.4 Collaboration
3.1 LifeTier 2. Polarity
3.2 Liberty
3.3 Autonomy
2.1 One and ManyTier 1. Apex
2.2 First and Last
1.1 The PyramidWorks Cited
Index