The Future of Philosophy
Aug 01, 2006Ken and John discuss the future of philosophy with three rising stars in American philosophy: Elizabeth Harman from New York University...
Why Is Analytic Philosophy Dominant?
Truman Chen
03 March 2017
How did analytic philosophy come to dominate Anglo-American philosophy departments? If you thought it was just because it is the superior kind of philosophy, well, that might be your bias showing. Some seemingly important developments in the history of thought are determined by rather uninspiring and unglamorous contingencies, like rivalries or personal idiosyncracies.
The Daily Nous recently discussed a new essay, "On the emergence of American analytic philosophy" by Joel Katzav and Krist Vaesen, published in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy in 2017. The essay argues that the historical dominance of analytic philosophy was actually due in large part to the deliberate "journal capture" and intellectual exclusion of other modes of philosophical thinking. In their words, "[t]he dominance of analytic philosophy was not just a matter of inherent affinity of American philosophy or analytic philosophy, good arguments, more cogently stated doctrines or the lack of alternatives."
With this in mind, have we inherited certain biases when it comes to determining what kinds of questions or methodologies are properly philosophical? What makes something "good" philosophy in the first place? Is there a way to determine this without recourse to conventional discriminations against opposing philosophical traditions? Maybe the analytic and "continental" modes of philosophy aren't inherently opposed after all, and a concerted effort to cultivate more philosophically diverse departments and institutions will lead to better and more informed arguments.
Read the article here: http://dailynous.com/2017/01/24/journal-capture-led-dominance-analytic-philosophy-u-s/
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Related Shows
The Future of Philosophy
Aug 01, 2006Ken and John discuss the future of philosophy with three rising stars in American philosophy: Elizabeth Harman from New York University...
Blog Archive
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
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Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
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Comments (1)
420_ZaRAthUsTRa
Thursday, March 9, 2017 -- 11:25 AM
It's long bothered me howIt's long bothered me how analytic philosophy has gotten so big.... always been drawn to alternative thought myself