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May 23, 2010
analytic philosophy
I believe that analytic philosophy started with respect for argument. The problem is that after awhile all philosophy had to be argument, and people didn't know what to argue about. Therefore, imaginary objects emerged: possible worlds are just as real as imaginary ones. That seems to me a beautiful example of the return of the repressed. The analytic movement started out as an anti-metaphysical movement, but today, it is fair to say that it is the most metaphysical movement of all. The proof is that the masters of analytic philosophy keep speaking about "intuition."
I don't criticize analytic philosophy for being metaphysical, I am not an anti-metaphysics militant. My problem with analytical philosophy is that it is empty. All philosophy does not have to be argument, and all arguments do not have to be in the analytic style. Kierkegaard, for example, does have arguments, even though the analytic philosophers will never recognize it. It is the same with Wittgenstein: his arguments often have a pedagogical character, the objective of which is not to explain something to the reader, but to get the reader to work things out by himself. This, I think, is the true purpose of philosophy.
Hilary Putnam
Posted by amin at May 23, 2010 10:39 AM