The present volume is a continuation of the series Contemporary
Philosophy. As with the earlier volumes in the series, the present
Chronicles purport to give a survey of significant trends in
contemporary philosophy. The need for such surveys has, I believe,
increased rather than decreased over the years. The philosophical scene
appears, for various reasons, more complex than ever before. The
continuing process of specialization in most branches, the increasing
contact between p- losophers from various cultures, the emergence of new
schools of thought, particularly in philosophical logic and in the
philosophy of language and ethics, and the increasing attention being
paid to the h- tory of philosophy in discussions of contemporary
problems, are the most important contributing factors. Surveys of the
present kind are a valuable source of knowledge of this complexity. The
surveys may therefore help to strengthen the Socratic element of modern
philosophy, the intercultural dialogue or Kommunikationsgemeinschaft. So
far, nine volumes have been published in this series, viz. P- losophy of
Language and Philosophical Logic (Volume 1), Philosophy of Science
(Volume 2), Philosophy of Action (Volume 3), Philosophy of Mind (Volume
4), African Philosophy (Volume 5), Medieval Age P- losophy (Volumes 6/1
and 6/2), Asian Philosophy (Volume 7), Philo- phy of Latin America
(Volume 8), and Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art (Volume 9).
