What is Analytic Philosophy? What is Analytic Metaphysics?
This definition of "analytic philosophy", by Brian Leiter, seems to me to be ok:
Now define "analytic metaphysics" by replacing "philosophy" by "metaphysics":
"Analytic" philosophy today names a style of doing philosophy, not a philosophical program or a set of substantive views. Analytic philosophers, crudely speaking, aim for argumentative clarity and precision; draw freely on the tools of logic; and often identify, professionally and intellectually, more closely with the sciences and mathematics, than with the humanities. (It is fair to say that "clarity" is, regrettably, becoming less and less a distinguishing feature of "analytic" philosophy.) The foundational figures of this tradition are philosophers like Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, the young Ludwig Wittgenstein and G.E. Moore; other canonical figures include Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Kripke, Rawls, Dummett, and Strawson.The definition (preceding the examples) is methodological, rather than historical, and identifies three characteristic features:
1. Analytic philosophy draws on the tools of logic.Admittedly these criteria will be rather vague in application to many individual cases. Still, it seems adequate to a good approximation. Also, no specific big metaphysical or epistemological doctrine follows (realism vs anti-realism; rationalism vs empiricism).
2. Analytic philosophy identifies with the sciences and mathematics.
3. Analytic philosophy aims for argumentative clarity and precision.
Now define "analytic metaphysics" by replacing "philosophy" by "metaphysics":
1. Analytic metaphysics draws on the tools of logic.(It does not define what a "metaphysical claim" is, though.)
2. Analytic metaphysics identifies with the sciences and mathematics.
3. Analytic metaphysics aims for argumentative clarity and precision.
Yes I think 'metaphysical claim' is going to be essential, else one could infer from your definitions that analytic metaphysics = analytic philosophy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Colin.
ReplyDeleteYes - I have an idea of trying to explain what a metaphysical claim is in two ways,
i., metaphysics as "meta-theory" (the conceptual part);
ii. metaphysics as a kind of "über-theory" (the doctrinal part).