Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Alfred Tarski, Gary Gutting and H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim

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4 ideas

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 4. Later European Philosophy / d. Nineteenth century philosophy
21943 Since Kant, self-criticism has been part of philosophy [Gutting]
     Full Idea: Philosophy after Kant has involved a continuing critique of its own project.
     From: Gary Gutting (Foucault: a very short introduction [2005], 6)
     A reaction: I'm struck by many modern philosophers in the analytic tradition who write as if Kant had never existed. I don't know if that is a conscious decision, but it may be a good one.
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 5. Metaphysics beyond Science
19199 Some say metaphysics is a highly generalised empirical study of objects [Tarski]
     Full Idea: For some people metaphysics is a general theory of objects (ontology) - a discipline which is to be developed in a purely empirical way, and which differs from other empirical disciplines in its generality.
     From: Alfred Tarski (The Semantic Conception of Truth [1944], 19)
     A reaction: Tarski says some people despise it, but for him such metaphysics is 'not objectionable'. I subscribe to this view, but the empirical aspect is very remote, because it's too general for detail observation or experiment. Generality is the key to philosophy.
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 1. Nature of Analysis
19193 Disputes that fail to use precise scientific terminology are all meaningless [Tarski]
     Full Idea: Disputes like the vague one about 'the right conception of truth' occur in all domains where, instead of exact, scientific terminology, common language with its vagueness and ambiguity is used; and they are always meaningless, and therefore in vain.
     From: Alfred Tarski (The Semantic Conception of Truth [1944], 14)
     A reaction: Taski taught a large number of famous philosophers in California in the 1950s, and this approach has had a huge influence. Recently there has been a bit of a rebellion. E.g. Kit Fine doesn't think it can all be done in formal languages.
1. Philosophy / H. Continental Philosophy / 4. Linguistic Structuralism
21944 Structuralism describes human phenomena in terms of unconscious structures [Gutting]
     Full Idea: Structuralism in the 1960s was a set of theories which explained human phenomena in terms of underlying unconscious structures, rather than the lived experience described by Phenomenology.
     From: Gary Gutting (Foucault: a very short introduction [2005], 6)
     A reaction: Hence the interest in Freud and Marx, and Foucault's interest in history, each offering to unmask what is hidden in consciousness. The unmasking is a basically Kantian project. Cf. Frege's hatred of 'psychologism'.