Abstract

With the explosion of courses in the ethics of various fields, medical, managerial, environmental and so on, the question of the nature of the philosophical enterprise is once again a live topic. Maybe as a result of sensitivity to accusations of bias and preaching in the way individual philosophers might teach these courses, the supposedly discredited conceptual analysis view is once again gaining adherents. Philosophers ought to clarify concepts and commitments, but they ought not to argue for particular concepts or commitments. When they do, they exceed their brief as philosophers, and become proponents of particular causes and world-views. And this is unprofessional, not to be tolerated in the academy.