Questions tagged [metaphilosophy]
Metaphilosophy is the philosophical study of philosophy itself — its goals, methods, scope, and relationship to other intellectual disciplines or human projects.
302
questions
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What does it mean to have an "account" of something?
It seems like many of the papers I've read and the goal of many fields in Philosophy is to come up with an "account" for something.
For example, one of the goals of Epistemology is to come up with an ...
- 403
5
votes
3
answers
251
views
What properties does "intuition" need in order to be counted as philosophical evidence?
Timothy Williamson (2008) has argued that we should not construe
philosophical evidence as consisting of intuitions.
Do intuitions generate philosophical evidence? And, if so, what sort of evidence ...
user38026
7
votes
8
answers
1k
views
Why did Daniel Dennett not adequately explain consciousness?
Dennett frequently talks about consciousness as if it has already been solved and that we're just inventing new problems because of some innate fear of naturalism.
In his (now rather old) book ...
- 803
2
votes
2
answers
111
views
What does 'philosophical study of' something mean?
Because there are many philosophical studies at present, like
philosophical study of education,
philosophical study of judgement, etc.
Therefore, please explain to me what the philosophical study of ...
- 83
3
votes
4
answers
212
views
What's the role of certainty in discussions about philosophical positions?
Karl Popper was one of the twentieth century’s preeminent philosophers of science. He was an avowed realist who was dedicated to the correspondence theory of truth. In his seventh decade of life, ...
- 369
2
votes
6
answers
759
views
Is everything that exists an actual entity?
My professor asked us to think about this question as we go through the unit but I am not sure what the question means. I would greatly appreciate if you could help me understand the question or give ...
- 29
3
votes
8
answers
488
views
What am I missing in texts that say things that are so obvious as to seem pointless?
I'm currently taking a course in early modern philosophy. The focus is on psychology, morality, and aesthetics. I've taken philosophy courses in the past, but I'm having a lot of trouble with this one,...
- 229
-1
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who is generally considered the better philosopher?
Of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who is generally considered the better philosopher? My apologies if too up for debate for any philosopher to have ever answered, as I can only find the answers of ...
user35983
4
votes
1
answer
202
views
Can Philosophy explain itself?
This question is prompted by recent questions: A short, understandable definition of philosophy and Do you need to know what philosophy is to study it?
Sciences are usually well defined, and the task ...
- 2,387
4
votes
2
answers
142
views
Do you need to know what philosophy is to study it?
Do you need to know what philosophy is to study it?
The question was prompted by one about literature, but I'll ask here. Poets tell me that you need to know what post-modernism and modernism are to ...
user35983
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
What is a philosophical question?
Are there criteria for what a philosophical question consists in?
Clearly they are not factual nor mathematical - even though they can be influenced and often discuss facts, and on Plato's academy ...
- 213
2
votes
0
answers
88
views
Collingwood, existence of God and its relation to natural science
I am reading Collingwood's essay in metaphysics and I have hard time in understanding his argument to the conclusion that Catholic Faith consists in (part) of absolute presuppositions of Greek thought ...
- 193
5
votes
2
answers
258
views
What is the order of questions?
I have heard the importance of "The order of questions" mentioned a few times by for example Bernard Stiegler in one of his seminars. I am working on a Phd, and it is being drummed into me framing the ...
- 213
1
vote
3
answers
2k
views
Is there really a "right" answer?
If Philosophy is a broad subject, and each and everyone of us have different beliefs, perspective, how do you guys actually deem an "answer" the right one in this site?
Is it because what the "right" ...
- 23
2
votes
0
answers
203
views
Does Psychology benefit Philosophy?
This question got me thinking:
It is widely held that Philosophy precedes the Sciences, birthing them. and continue to inform them. It is also evident that there are times when science has informed ...
- 2,387
4
votes
2
answers
207
views
How can I do my philosophy privately and independently? [closed]
I'm an Indian currently in class 12th which means after this year I shall be able to enter university. I'm 16 years old. I want to do philosophy without anyone and the main reason being alone is that ...
1
vote
2
answers
357
views
Can you adequately discuss Philosophy, without doing philosophy?
In order to convey a philosophical idea, a speaker must regularly interpret an original work. Not only that, but subsequent to the all to frequent 'discussion', he must interpret the listener's point ...
- 2,387
2
votes
2
answers
310
views
Can philosophy make predictions? [closed]
Philosophy, one may state, is a field where one makes descriptive statements about the world - whether it's in ethics, metaphysics, logic, or any other philosophical study.
For example "the world is ...
- 3,846
5
votes
4
answers
499
views
Can / Should Philosophy be made more 'accessible'?
Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery edited by
William Irwin
"...metal up your ass!" - I kid you not, that's a quote from a purportedly serious philosophical work (ref. above)....
- 2,387
6
votes
1
answer
185
views
How are the assumptions underlying logic chosen?
Logic works based on certain assumptions about its rules. How are these axiomatic assumptions selected in the first place, given that a system of logic does not exist prior to the point of selection?
...
- 61
1
vote
1
answer
109
views
Does Philosophy benefit from parsimony?
It is well established doctrine to apply Occam's razor to scientific theoretical development. The basis for which may range over the demonstrated practical success of the principle, to a vocational/...
- 2,387
3
votes
0
answers
94
views
Are there degrees of rationality/plausibility to assumptions?
There are many kinds of premises, in every possible field. I'll limit this question to metaphysics, although it can definitely be applied to each and every scientific/philosophical study.
For example,...
- 3,846
5
votes
3
answers
483
views
Can it be shown that video games have in some way impacted philosophy or vice versa?
Video games are a quite recent invention and they became popular far after being invented, maybe by the 90s. However, I think video games somehow affected my worldview and produced some ideas. I will ...
- 2,576
1
vote
3
answers
200
views
How do I know the philosophy I'm going to read is something new for me and not just a waste of time?
I know it may sound like I'm thinking of myself as I already know everything within philosophy, every problem and every response. When I was 15 reading it could be interesting. However now, most ...
- 2,576
4
votes
6
answers
817
views
Moral skepticism and "walking the talk"
It would seem that a substantial minority of philosophers agree with the moral anti-realist position that we have a problem going from "is" to "ought"--that there is no objective correlate of the ...
- 289
1
vote
0
answers
170
views
Do all "meta" questions within philosophy reduce to descriptive and normative?
At first, under "meta" I, of course, mean such things as metaphilosophy, metaethics, and some other "metas" trying to answer the questions "What is X?", "What properties does X have?", etc. And this ...
- 2,576
1
vote
2
answers
170
views
Did any philosophers in the middle ages and before tackle depression or suicide?
Extremely weird question, I know, But were any philosophers in the middle ages and before tackle topics such as depression and suicide? I mean we see them tackle happiness and living happily, but were ...
- 495
4
votes
4
answers
491
views
What makes epistemology unscientific?
Epistemology is called a branch of philosophy and not science. There are several epistemic theories some of which actually were mainstream sometimes. But it appears that, for example, some of them ...
- 2,576
4
votes
5
answers
337
views
Can myth be a part of philosophy?
There are many ancient myths regarding cosmology which have their descriptions of reality including those which are seemingly directly unobservable to us. For example, what is outside of our universe? ...
- 2,576
2
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What's the difference between philosophy and academic philosophy? [closed]
What's the difference between Philosophy and academic philosophy, simple, yet so complex?
Philosophy is the act of studying reality, knowledge etc. Yet in academic philosophy, you aren't studying ...
- 495
2
votes
1
answer
355
views
if philosophy didn't exist nor did psychology, could we prove that we think?
if philosophy and psychology didn't exist, could humans be able to prove that we think and are capable of coming up with inventions, I mean we create things because we need them(that used to be the ...
- 495
0
votes
2
answers
103
views
Why was the creation of philosophy so important to contributions in science and human development? [closed]
Why was the creation of philosophy so important to us humans? After all, we are curious and we always want answers, and philosophy was a field of thinking that helped develop sciences. But how did the ...
- 495
3
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Was philosophy/philosophers involved in any revolutions?
Many philosophers were critical thinkers and were aware of what was happening in the world around them, meaning that they could recognize government corruption. Socrates was revolutionary, not only in ...
- 495
5
votes
2
answers
479
views
Were any pre-Socratic philosophers interested in building schools/academies?
Plato, as a lot of people know created the Platonic Academy, which focused on teaching many subjects, but didn't any pre-Socratic philosophers think of making an academy/school for teaching subjects ...
- 495
3
votes
3
answers
191
views
How does philosophy advance despite irreconcilable background assumptions ("positions") on every topic?
In philosophy there are always, and on almost everything, many "positions", many different possibilities to choose from, and there isn't mainly some decisive conclusion between positions as to what's "...
- 3,846
4
votes
2
answers
433
views
Have philosophers neglected human obligations to other animals?
A lot of philosophers only philosophized about humans and how we live, although interested in biology they didn't give too much attention to animals and other beings. (Yes, they philosophized about ...
- 495
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Is metaphysics completely subjective?
A little bit of background:
As some of you may have noticed, my main interest in philosophy is of metaphysics. I've studied philosophy in a very postmodern environment; but contra to the people ...
- 3,846
0
votes
1
answer
98
views
Can physics be approached from a worldview that's not naturalistic?
This is both a theoretical and practical question.
Physics (at least university-taught physics) is often based upon Newton's basic worldview, a naturalistic worldview that's said to be the ...
- 3,846
1
vote
7
answers
5k
views
What does it take to answer a philosophical question?
I apologize in advance if my question should be discussed on Philosophy Meta, but when thinking about the question I couldn't decide whether it would be appropriate there.
Thinking about the ...
- 495
3
votes
1
answer
8k
views
How did Plato believe that our senses aren't to be trusted?
Plato, believed that we can't trust our senses to show us the true form of an object.
It didn't make any sense to me, because after all, science hasn't yet proven if you see something after your ...
- 495
6
votes
2
answers
141
views
Aren't all children philosophers? [closed]
As described by writer Jostein Gaarder in his book Sophie's World, to philosophize is to be astonished by things in nature around us, and we can always see children always surprised of things ...
- 495
1
vote
2
answers
218
views
What does it take for someone to be recognized as a philosopher [closed]
So, the other day i was wondering, what does it take to become a recognized philosopher? Perhaps wisdom? Perhaps the ability to think? Perhaps I need academic education? I couldn't quite find an ...
- 495
2
votes
1
answer
228
views
Is the confusion about philosophy's place in the academia a result of the analytic movement?
First, let's state that obviously there will be those who'll say "what confusion" (by confusion I mean for example questions like "what philosophy has to do with science"), and for them I'll start ...
- 3,846
1
vote
1
answer
124
views
How can we tell when a practical philosophy practice is "philosophical" or "mystical"?
I've been thinking lately of the fact that a lot of people, many intellectuals included, pretty much dismiss of any kind of "mysticistic" practice.
I'll put the general definition from Wikipedia for "...
- 3,846
1
vote
3
answers
600
views
Alternatives to Russell Bertrand's "History of Western Philosophy"
Do you know of any good alternatives to this book that give a wide representation of Western Philosophy?
Are there any good books that give a history of Eastern Philosophy?
- 330
3
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Pendulum Theory / Cyclical Theory in Philosophy?
In political science, the Cyclical Theory states that societal attitudes (Liberal-Conservative spectrum) move like a pendulum moving from one extreme to the other.
Are there any philosophers who ...
- 330
1
vote
2
answers
117
views
Is Philosophy simply the appreciation of wise thoughts?
I was reading a post called "Why Do Philosophers Ignore Ayn Rand?" by John David Ward, and the author stated the following: "Philosophy is basically about the appreciation of wise thoughts, not the ...
- 261
3
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Are there criteria for good philosophy ? If so, what are they ?
My own criterion is maximal coherence. A philosophy which gives most answers that are mutually consistent.
This is as far as I can get. I have made the attempt. Can anyone take my endeavour further -...
- 446
0
votes
1
answer
94
views
Examples of scientific progress revolutionizing philosophic thought?
The role of paradigm shifts in understanding is often discussed in the context of scientific progress. What are some prime examples of scientific progress initiating paradigm shifts in religion/...
- 131
4
votes
2
answers
145
views
Is philosophy considered mainly as ethics in modern society (mainly in the public perception)?
I might be very wrong in my judgment here, so correct me if I'm wrong, that's just what I'm getting from reading and hearing the every-day talk about philosophy (news, small talks, etc).
It seems as ...
- 3,846