Understanding and philosophical methodology

Philosophical Studies 161 (2):185-205 (2012)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

According to Conceptualism, philosophy is an independent discipline that can be pursued from the armchair because philosophy seeks truths that can be discovered purely on the basis of our understanding of expressions and the concepts they express. In his recent book, The Philosophy of Philosophy, Timothy Williamson argues that while philosophy can indeed be pursued from the armchair, we should reject any form of Conceptualism. In this paper, we show that Williamson’s arguments against Conceptualism are not successful, and we sketch a way to understand understanding that shows that there is a clear sense in which we can indeed come to know the answers to (many) philosophical questions purely on the basis of understanding.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Understanding and Semantic Structure: Reply to Timothy Williamson.Brendan Balcerak Jackson - 2009 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 109 (1pt3):337-343.
Conceptual truth.Timothy Williamson - 2006 - Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 80 (1):1–41.
Laudan, Friedman and the Role of the A Priori in Science.Dan McArthur - 2007 - Journal of Philosophical Research 32:169-190.
Kant’s Non-Conceptualism, Rogue Objects, and The Gap in the B Deduction.Robert Hanna - 2011 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 19 (3):399 - 415.
How understanding makes knowledge valuable.Ayca Boylu - 2010 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 40 (4):591-609.
Simulation and the sense of understanding.Jaakko Kuorikoski - 2011 - In Paul Humphreys & Cyrille Imbert (eds.), Models, Simulations, and Representations. London: Routledge. pp. 168-187.
Life as understanding.Günter Figal - 2004 - Research in Phenomenology 34 (1):20-30.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-12-22

Downloads
444 (#39,222)

6 months
7 (#174,778)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author Profiles

Citations of this work

Conceptual analysis without concepts.Max Deutsch - 2020 - Synthese 198 (11):11125-11157.
Is Understanding Epistemic in Nature?Gurpreet Rattan & Åsa Wikforss - 2017 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 98 (2).
Metaphysics, Verbal Disputes and the Limits of Charity.Brendan Balcerak Jackson - 2012 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 86 (2):412-434.

View all 14 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Fact, Fiction, and Forecast.Nelson Goodman - 1965 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
The Philosophy of Philosophy.Timothy Williamson - 2007 - Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mental Reality.Galen Strawson - 1994 - Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

View all 24 references / Add more references