Two strangers meet one summer's morning in a near-miss car accident: Andrew Cause is a philosopher, Malcolm Effect a research scientist. In their ensuing day-long conversation, Cause subjects Effect to a sustained sceptical attack upon the inadequacies and inconsistencies of his world-view. Traditional problems are introduced, including those of mind and body, cause and effect, free will, universals and the nature of moral goodness. Cause identifies the scientist's particle theory of matter as a crucially mistaken and hopeless metaphysics which has now outlived any usefulness. Step by step, Effect is reduced to a state of confusion, and finally he demands that Cause produce an alternative. In a literally dramatic climax the philosopher invokes a new model which, he claims, gets to the heart of things...
Chapter Headings: 1. Minds and Bodies 2. Persons and Things 3. Causes and Effects 4. Freedoms and Laws 5. Universals and Families 6. Goods and Morals 7. Gods and Models 8. Physics and Metaphysics 9. Above Olympus
"Making Names is an exceptional piece of work, highly unusual in both its content and presentation. Malcolm's use of dialogue is in certain ways more fully dramatic than Plato's or Berkeley's, his writing is fluent and wonderfully easy to read. Most of the major philosophical problems are presented and argued, but it is not until the final chapter that Malcolm's fusion of philosophy and drama takes its most audacious step, when he presents his very striking version of the tragedy Electra. Malcolm has done something in this book which is unique." Professor Roy Edgley, Sussex University. (Click for Edgley's Affidavit and courtroom testimony.)
"I think very highly of Malcolm's gifts. He has the heart of a dramatist, the soul of a poet. I found his Electra extremely interesting, deeply moving and deeply impressive; it is excellent. He has caught the true spirit of Greek tragedy. I felt as if I was reading Sophocles." Sir Karl Popper, CH, FRS. (Click for explanation).
An original tour de force... comparable to some of Bertrand Russell's later writing... effectively communicates the essentials of philosophy and scientific theorising to students and general readers. With its entertaining dialogues and its realistic, direct arguments it should prove to be a widely popular introductory text." R. W. Noble, The Times Educational Supplement. (Click for Noble's complete review).
"I found Making Names a valuable book because it challenges in an accessible fashion the current dogmas by which we are educated and which are too easily accepted as fact. Science is not a temple of absolutism, it is the product of individuals' creativity; it is much more like art than is generally realized. In this book, by concentrating on people, the nature of science as it is practised is well portrayed. I imagine it may well attain a certain cult status." Terence Kealey, The Spectator. (Click for Kealey's complete review).
"The progress of Malcolm's dialogue challenges, both directly and by implication, what are taken to be the guiding principles of modern physics and cosmology, particularly in respect of particle theory. He is evidently well informed about these issues and debates and presents us with a sort of voyage of discovery. Making Names is aimed at everyone..." Jeremy Mynott, Editorial Director, CUP (courtroom affidavit).
"One of the shrewdest cases for a sort of Collingwoodian Idealism that I've read... A bold attempt to do philosophy in an unusual literary format... It ought to appeal to people with a general interest in science on the one hand and literature on the other" Alan Ryan, Warden, New College Oxford. (Click for Ryan's two reports on the book's first draft 11/2/1985 and 18/7/1985).
" Making Names is in no way crazy. It is very easy to read and might prove extremely effective as an introduction to philosophical problems and procedures. Malcolm has a real gift for informal exposition, he is very clear and he knows what he's talking about." Galen Strawson, St Hugh's College, Oxford. (Click for Strawson's complete report on the book's first draft).
"I was quite gripped by the end, I was reading with the kind of attention that one gives to a novel... I'm pleased that we are going to do Making Names and hope that it's a terrific success. It is an excellent book." Henry Hardy, OUP editor.