Public & Private Space: A Short Treatise on Knowledge and Well-Being

In this short treatise, Kevin Stokker takes a “less is more” approach to the classical problems of philosophy. By first delineating public and private space, he clarifies old dualisms such as reality vs. appearance, idealism vs. realism, and knowledge vs. moral value in a way that draws on empiricism and nominalism while rejecting metaphysical speculation. The distillation of topics is brief by design: an ordered collection of axioms provides a simple framework from which to solve any given philosophical problem.
On the topic of knowledge, existence and language are equated: that which exists is that which exists for us, as we forge words in our attempt to gain an understanding of our world. On the topic of moral value, the feelings of our private space are given priority over a knowledge of public space in giving meaning and worth to our world and our lives. Finally, Stokker turns his attention wholly to religion, rejecting those expressions of religion that seek to address public space, while maintaining the possibility of a meaningful religion of private space.