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Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Naturalism

Online ISBN:
9780262255202
Print ISBN:
9780262012560
Publisher:
The MIT Press
Book

Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Naturalism

David Braddon-Mitchell (ed.),
David Braddon-Mitchell
(ed.)
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Published:
5 December 2008
Online ISBN:
9780262255202
Print ISBN:
9780262012560
Publisher:
The MIT Press

Abstract

Many philosophical naturalists eschew analysis in favor of discovering metaphysical truths from the a posteriori, contending that analysis does not lead to philosophical insight. A countercurrent to this approach seeks to reconcile a certain account of conceptual analysis with philosophical naturalism; prominent and influential proponents of this methodology include the late David Lewis, Frank Jackson, Michael Smith, Philip Pettit, and David Armstrong. Naturalistic analysis (sometimes known as the “Canberra Plan” because many of its proponents have been associated with the Australian National University in Canberra) is a tool for locating in the scientifically given world objects and properties we quantify over in everyday discourse. This book gathers work from a range of prominent philosophers who are working within this tradition, offering important new work as well as critical evaluations of the methodology. Its centerpiece is an important posthumous work by David Lewis, “Ramseyan Humility.” The chapters first address issues of philosophy of mind, semantics, and the new methodology’s a priori character, then turn to matters of metaphysics, and finally consider problems regarding normativity.

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