PHILOSOPHY INSIDE OUT – KITCHER – 2011 – Metaphilosophy – Wiley Online Library.
Among the articles in the recent Metaphilosophy special issue–the Future of Philosophy: Metaphilosophical Directions for the 21st Century–is this one by Philip Kitcher. I recommend the read.
ABSTRACT: Philosophy is often conceived in the Anglophone world today as a subject that focuses on questions in particular “core areas,” pre-eminently epistemology and metaphysics. This article argues that the contemporary conception is a new version of the scholastic “self-indulgence for the few” of which Dewey complained nearly a century ago. Philosophical questions evolve, and a first task for philosophers is to address issues that arise for their own times. The article suggests that a renewal of philosophy today should turn the contemporary conception inside out, attending to and developing further the valuable work being done on the supposed “periphery” and attending to the “core areas” only insofar as is necessary to address genuinely significant questions.
For those who are at the University of North Texas, you can access the article in our electronic journals collection using your EUID: