progress in philosophy

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Which Questions Can’t Philosophy Answer By Itself?

In an interview in The Undergraduate Philosophy Journal of Australasia, Thomas Spiteri asks Peter Godfrey-Smith (Sydney) about “how best to make epistemic progress” answering philosophical questions about minds and consciousness. (more…)

In Defense of the Details (guest post)

Are today’s younger philosophers “focusing too much on detailed investigations of individual things and not enough on the big picture”? (more…)

World Philosophy Day & the Growth of Philosophy

Today is World Philosophy Day, a day designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to celebrate “the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual.” (more…)

Progress in Philosophy

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is becoming the most well-known defender of the idea that philosophy makes progress. Last year, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, she wrote:

Philosophy was the first academic field; the founder of the Academy was Plato. Nevertheless, philosophy’s place in academe can stir up controversy. The ancient lineage itself provokes dissensi..

The Intellectual Costs of Misconduct (guest post)

The following is a guest post * from a woman graduate student in philosophy who wishes to remain anonymous.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the complicated ways issues of equity connect with intellectual and professional respect. On philosophy blogs there has been extensive discussion regarding the climate for women in philosophy, issues of sexual misconduct, ..

Is Bio-Medical Ethics Failing?

What medical ethics needs is more and better philosophy—and a return to the adventurousness and originality of its pioneering days. There have been successes—euthanasia and better treatment of animals to mention just two. But the field has in many ways dried up or become dominated by moralists bent on protecting privacy and confidentiality at great cost and ‘getting..

When Is Philosophical Agreement Suspicious?

Last week, in the post about philosophy of religion, I wrote:

For a few reasons, it is not a sociologically surprising fact that most philosophy of religion in the West today is conducted by Christian theists. But it is certainly philosophically surprising (bordering on philosophically suspect) that, of all the possible options for religious belief (which include n..