If there is such a thing as reason, it has to be universal. Reason must reflect objective principles whose validity is independent of our point of view - principles that anyone with enough intelligence ought to be able to recognize as correct. But this universality of reason is what relativists and subjectivists deny in ever-increasing numbers. And such subjectivism is not just an inconsequential intellectual flourish or badge of theoretical chic. It is exploited to deflect argument and to belittle the pretensions of the arguments of others. The continuing spread of this relativistic way of thinking threatens to make public discourse increasingly difficult and unproductive. In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, one of the most influential philosophers writing in English, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals of relativistic claims with respect to language, logic, science, and ethics. He shows that the last word in disputes about the objective validity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are - thoughts that we cannot regard from outside as mere psychological dispositions. His work sets a new standard in the debate on this crucially important question and should generate intense interest both within and outside the philosophical community.

"Realism is one of the most common terms in the critical vocabulary, yet has been described as a 'monster with many heads desperately in need of disentangling'. Professor Furst's collection is ideally placed to help the student understand its complexities and the range of responses it has evoked. She begins with the reflections of such classic 'realist' writers as Balzac and Henry James which provide a context for a series of major twentieth-century readings. After this overture the curtain is raised with contributions from humanist, Marxist, structuralist, rhetorical, reader-oriented, psychoanalytic, deconstructionist and feminist criticism, including excerpts from an international range of critics such as George Lukacs, Roland Barthes, David Lodge and J. Hillis Miller. A substantial Introduction, Headnotes and a Glossary of Terms provide a wider context for the essays and explain terms that may be unfamiliar to the student. A selective annotated Bibliography provides a guide to further reading"--Back cover.