The philosophy of philosophy / Timothy Williamson

Includes bibliographical references and index.

I. Introduction -- The Linguistic Turn and the Conceptual Turn -- Taking Philosophical Questions at Face Value -- Metaphysical Conceptions of Analyticity -- Epistemological Conceptions of Analyticity -- Knowledge of Metaphysical Modality -- Thought Experiments -- Evidence in Philosophy -- Knowledge Maximization -- Afterword -- Appendix 1: Modal Logic within Counterfactual Logic -- Appendix 2: Counterfactual Donkeys -- II. Widening the Picture -- Experimental Philosophy -- Naturalism -- Concepts, Understanding, Analyticity -- Wittgensteinian Approaches -- Miscellany

The Philosophy of Philosophy presents an original, unified concept of philosophy as a non-natural science. In this provocative work, distinguished philosopher Timothy Williamson challenges widely-held assumptions and clarifies long-standing misconceptions about the methodology and nature of philosophical inquiry. The author rejects the standard narratives of contemporary philosophy developed from naturalism, the linguistic turn, postmodern irony, and other prominent trends of the twentieth century. Viewing the method of philosophy as evolving from non-philosophical pursuits, Williamson provides readers with fresh insight into the "self-image" of philosophy and offers new ways of understanding what philosophy is and how it actually works. Now in its second edition, this landmark volume comprises the original book and the author's subsequent work. New topics include the recent history of analytic philosophy, assessments of experimental philosophy, theories of concepts and understanding, Wittgensteinian approaches, popular philosophy, naturalism, morally-loaded examples in philosophy, philosophical applications of scientific methods, and many more. This edition features the author's latest thoughts on a variety of issues, autobiographical reflections, and replies to critics