Interpretation Radical but Not Unruly

The New Puzzle of the Arts and History
Tackling one of philosophy's key themes, this book develops the controversial thesis that the world is a flux. It applies this doctrine to Western theories of history and the interpretation of cultural phenomena, offering analysis of the logic, methodology and metaphysics of interpretation.
With this challenging work, Joseph Margolis continues the project begun in The Flux of History and the Flux of Science (California, 1993). Tackling one of philosophy's master themes, he develops the controversial thesis that the world is a flux. Here he applies this doctrine to Western theories of history and the interpretation of cultural phenomena--offering the first sustained analysis of the logic, methodology, and metaphysics of interpretation committed to a thoroughgoing relativism and the historicized structure of cultural phenomena. Versed in Anglo-American and Continental philosophy, Margolis draws on the best views of Western philosophy to investigate a topic regularly ignored in that tradition. The result is the surprising synthesis of two historically antipathetic approaches to philosophy.