Metaphilosophy and philosophical progress

Evenemang

Startdatum:

måndag 12 maj 2025

Tid:

10.00

Slutdatum:

fredag 16 maj 2025

Tid:

13.00

Plats:

University of Gothenburg

Course description:

As if philosophers didn’t already have enough of a reputation as navel-gazers, the recent two decades have seen an explosion of work in metaphilosophy, where philosophers discuss the nature of their own discipline. This trend is very much still ongoing. Particularly salient in this debate is the worry that philosophy doesn’t make very much, or at least not enough, progress. This has led to a rich debate concerning the methods, the aim(s), and the value of philosophy. The present course delves into some of these issues, and offers students an opportunity to reflect on what they conceive of themselves and others as doing when they are doing philosophy.
 
Examples of questions that may be addressed are: What does philosophy aim for—knowledge, understanding, truth, explanation, explication, to answer questions (or maybe to dissolve them?), or something else entirely? Are our philosophical methods adequate for achieving the aim(s)? If not, how can they be changed/improved? What would it mean for philosophy to make progress? Is there any good reason to think philosophy has made as much progress as one can reasonably expect? How does it compare with the sciences? With other humanities subjects? Are such comparisons meaningful? What should we think of the apparently widespread and persistent disagreement among working philosophers—does it impact the prospects for progress, and why/why not? What sort of attitude is it reasonable for philosophers to have to the views they are defending—can/should they justifiably believe them, and if not, what attitude should they take?
 
The course is a 7.5-ECTS course (equivalent to five weeks of full-time study), but the teaching is condensed to one week. It is very important that students have prepared properly by reading all of the material in advance of the teaching week.
 
 Instructor: Ylwa Sjölin Wirling