The Philosophy of Philosophy
Timothy Williamson
Second Edition
This edition first published 2022
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Edition History
Second Edition © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
First Edition © 2007 Timothy Williamson, Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
[hardback ISBN: 9781119616672; paperback ISBN 9781119616689; Williamson DOB 6 August 1955]
Cover image: Portrait of Olga in an armchair Painting by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) 1917, JEAN-LOUIS JOSSE/Musee Picasso, Paris, France/Bridgeman Images
Cover design by Wiley
Set in 10.5/13 SabonLTStd by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India
To my children Alice, Conrad, and Arno
CONTENTS
1 Cover
5 Preface to the Second Edition
6 Preface to the First Edition
8 Part I Introduction 1 The Linguistic Turn and the Conceptual Turn 2 Taking Philosophical Questions at Face Value 3 Metaphysical Conceptions of Analyticity 4 Epistemological Conceptions of Analyticity 5 Knowledge of Metaphysical Modality 6 Thought Experiments 7 Evidence in Philosophy 8 Knowledge Maximization Afterword Must Do Better Appendix 1 Modal Logic within Counterfactual Logic Appendix 2 Counterfactual Donkeys
9 Part II9 Widening the Picture9.1 How Did We Get Here from There?The Transformation of Analytic Philosophy9.2 Abductive Philosophy9.3 Model-Building in Philosophy9.4 Morally Loaded Cases in Philosophy9.5 Reply to Dennett and Kuznetsov on Abductive Philosophy9.6 Reply to Kuznetsov and Stoljar on Model-Building in Philosophy10 Experimental Philosophy10.1 Reply to Weinberg10.2 Philosophical Expertise and the Burden of Proof10.3 On Joshua Alexander’s Experimental Philosophy:An Introduction10.4 Philosophical Criticisms of Experimental Philosophy10.5 Reply to Dennett, Knobe, and Kuznetsov on “Philosophical Intuitions”11 Naturalism11.1 Reply to Kornblith11.2 Reply to Stalnaker11.3 Reply to Bianchi11.4 What is Naturalism?11.5 The Unclarity of Naturalism11.6 On Penelope Maddy’s What Do Philosophers Do? Skepticism