In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, a leading philosopher and Professor of Law, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals against its many relativistic claims in the fields of language, logic, ethics, and science. He proposes that reason reflects objective principles whose validity is independent of different points of view, and continues to argue that reason is universal because its only prerequisite is the ability to think systematically and with intelligence. Dismissing relativism as theoretical chic and inconsequential intellectual flourish, he predicts its ultimate stultifying effect on public discourse. The Last Word is a vigorous defense of reason and its universal narratives. Resisting what he describes as the eventual demise of intellectual discourse, Nagel's work sets a new standard in the debate: this book presents the clarity and simplicity of objective reason. Nagel's construction of a coherent framework beyond subjectivism is refreshing, timely, and impressive, and should generate intense interest both within and outside the philosophical community.

托馬斯•內格爾（Thomas Nagel，1937.7— ）紐約大學哲學與法學教授、美國人文科學院院士和不列顛學院院士，當代西方哲學界政治哲學、倫理學和心靈哲學領域內的領軍人物。內格爾齣版的其他重要著作包括：《利他主義的可能性》、《人的問題》、《它究竟意味著什麼——一篇很短的哲學導論》、《平等與不公》、《他人的心靈：1969—1994年批評文集》。