Philosophy

Is Philosophy part of the Humanities? If it isn't, what is it then? Kind of science of methods or science of structures or metascience?

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I think this question is one of the most contentious in the field at the moment. Perhaps it has always been this way.

For some of us, philosophy, as we practice it, has very little in common with the other disciplines traditionally included among the humanities. (I'm not entirely sure I know what the "humanities" are, to be honest.) Our colleagues in these disciplines are often exceedingly frustrated with us for this reason. They think we should be teaching Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Islamic philosophy, and we reply to them that we have no more obligation to do so than the physicists have to teach Aristotle and Newton. This is because, as we see it, philosophy is, like physics, centrally concerned with certain problems, and our task is to make some kind of progress on those problems. Of course, it complicates matters that philosophy's relationship to its history is very different from physics' relationship to its. This is in part because philosophy's problems are sometimes (not always) very old, and an understanding of the history of these ancient problems can be invaluable. And then there's the fact that Aristotle and Leibniz and Hume and Kant and Frege were all pretty bright folks, and what they had to say is often well worth considering. And so there may well be reason to teach Indian philosophy, or what have you, in philosophy departments, but, if so, it will be because of the light such work throws on the problems themselves, not because we're all trying to be multicultural.

Please note: This is not to say that Chinese philosophy should not be taught. It of course should be taught, and it usually is taught in Asian studies departments and the like. I should also note that there are plenty of good philosophers with serious interests in Chinese philosophy who would be prepared to argue that at least some Chinese philosophy should be taught in philosophy departments now because it does throw appropriate light on the problems. Perhaps such people are right, but they have not yet convinced the great majority of their colleagues.

So what, from this point of view, is philosophy? Good question.

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