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Philosophy Upside Down?
Author(s) -
Baumann Peter
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
metaphilosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1467-9973
pISSN - 0026-1068
DOI - 10.1111/meta.12046
Subject(s) - nobody , mainstream , epistemology , focus (optics) , relevance (law) , philosophy , value (mathematics) , analytic philosophy , philosophy of language , western philosophy , modern philosophy , pragmatism , sociology , contemporary philosophy , law , computer science , metaphysics , political science , physics , theology , machine learning , optics , operating system
Philip K itcher recently argued for a reconstruction in philosophy. According to him, the contemporary mainstream of philosophy (in the E nglish‐speaking world, at least) has deteriorated into something that is of relevance only to a few specialists who communicate with each other in a language nobody else understands. Kitcher proposes to reconstruct philosophy along two axes: a knowledge axis (with a focus on the sciences) and a value axis. The present article discusses K itcher's diagnosis as well as his proposal of a therapy. It argues that there are problems with both, and it ends with an alternative view of what some core problems of the profession currently are.