Back to the Rough Ground is a philosophical investigation of practical knowledge, with major import for professional practice and the ethical life in modern society. Its purpose is to clarify the kind of knowledge that informs good practice in a range of disciplines such as education, psychotherapy, medicine, management, and law. Through reflection on key modern thinkers who have revived cardinal insights of Aristotle, and a sustained engagement with the Philosopher himself, it presents a radical challenge to the scientistic assumptions that have dominated how these professional domains have been conceived, practiced, and institutionalized.

About the Author

Joseph Dunne teaches philosophy of education at St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University. He has co-edited several books and is the author of many scholarly articles and reviews.

Alasdair MacIntyre is research professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books, including Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (Notre Dame Press, 1988) and Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition (Notre Dame Press, 1990).

Reviews

"[Dunne] makes clear both the contemporary relevance of the Aristotelian conception of practical judgment and the way in which, implicitly and explicitly, it has already played a part in the twentieth-century debates in a way that no one else has done. His detailed exposition of Aristotle is not only admirable . . . but exceptionally well-designed." -Alasdair MacIntyre

"Joseph Dunne's achievement in this truly remarkable work is of the highest significance for educational philosophy . . . [Back to the Rough Ground] should be compulsory reading for all those who profess a serious interest in the conceptual complexities . . . of professional knowledge. [Dunne's] arguments are consistently intelligent, clear, and persuasive . . . the overall quality of his writing is simply outstanding." -Journal of Philosophy of Education

"A remarkable exercise in the hermeneutics of reading carried out in a truly Gadamerian spirit. . . . The richness and brilliance of Dunne's twofold reading, which moves back and forth between Aristotle, Gadamer, and Habermas, . . . does indeed succeed in forcefully reviving . . . a usable modern phronetic tradition." -Quarterly Journal of Speech

"An impressively masterful and engaging volume, which will more than repay careful reading and rereading. Its depth of analysis, richness of content, and subtlety of argument offer invaluable resources not only for understanding Aristotle's practical philosophy but also for appreciating why robust accounts of practical reason, though scarce in modernity, are nonetheless indispensable. . . . [A] model of how phronesis [practical wisdom] might be exhibited in our own day." -Modern Theology

"[A] very powerful, scholarly, and philosophically acute attempt to rehabilitate an understanding of practical reason. . . . Dunne's absorbing and illuminating book is a necessary acquisition for anyone who is interested in practical philosophy." -International Journal of Philosophical Studies

"...a first-rate piece of work...wide ranging in its scope, yet finely attentive to detail. It covers...a large number of contemporary thinkers, and yet shows scholarly and philosophical finesse in reading Aristotle and recovering the contemporary significance of his views of techne and phronesis." -The Review of Metaphysics

Book Information
ISBN 9780268007058
Author Joseph Dunne
Format Paperback
Page Count 512
Imprint University of Notre Dame Press
Publisher University of Notre Dame Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 29mm