Essays by Lewis White Beck

During his life Lewis W. Beck published two books of his essays which deal almost exclusively with different aspects of Kant's philosophy. He also thought about publishing a collection of his essays not so directly related to Kant but was unable to do so before his death in 1997. This volume brings together those essays--from the earliest to the latest--that reflect the variety of his philosophical interests: epistemology, philosophy of science, ethics, aesthetics, extraterrestrials, and philosophy as literature, as well as a few late essays on Kant. This collection of mostly neglected yet highly original and valuable contributions by Beck to various philosophical disciplines, provides a more rounded and complete picture of Beck's creativity and humanistic orientation. Beck's own account of how he became a philosopher, a complete bibliography of his publications, and a fitting tribute to him by Professor Robert Holmes of the University of Rochester completes the volume.Predrag Cicovacki is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.