Book review: As If: Idealization and Ideals by Kwame Anthony Appiah

Abstract

Kwame Anthony Appiah’s engaging and insightful new book focuses on idealisation. Based on three Carus Lectures delivered at the 2013 Eastern Division Meetings of the American Philosophical Association, the book takes its inspiration from the German philosopher Hans Vaihinger and his The Philosophy of ‘As If’ (1911). Long neglected, Vaihinger’s work has recently been revisited by philosophers of science interested in scientific modelling, most notably Arthur Fine. Vaihinger’s own interests were much broader, however, taking in metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, law, theology and economics. Appiah’s range is equally impressive and his discussion applies Vaihinger’s ideas across a wide range of areas, including philosophy of mind, economics, moral and political philosophy. In doing so, it offers a striking and extremely valuable insight into the pervasive role of idealisation in human thought. [...]