An Introduction to Philosophical Methods

by Christopher Daly

An Introduction to Philosophical Methods is the first book to survey the various methods that philosophers use to support their views. Rigorous yet accessible, the book introduces and illustrates the methodological considerations that are involved in current philosophical debates. Where there is controversy, the book presents the case for each side, but highlights where the key difficulties with them lie. While eminently student-friendly, the book makes an important contribution to the debate regarding the acceptability of the various philosophical methods, and so it will also be of interest to more experienced philosophers.

Genres: Philosophy

258 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2010

Reviews

[Conrado · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid introduction; each chapter is written in a clear manner, and the author neatly separates the main questions concerning the use of common sense, conceptual analysis, thought experiments, simplicity considerations and scientific inquiry. I wasn't thrilled about all of the chapters (the chapter on simplicity was not that interesting to me, contrary to my expectations), but I suppose they will be sufficiently stimulating to other people interested in metaphilosophy. The recommended reading sections are also pretty interesting.

One problem with the book has to do mainly with the lack of some discussions. The chapter on science in special seems pretty insufficient; it lacks discussion of other naturalistic methods such as genealogical and historical methods; it also lacks discussion about other kinds of naturalism within other areas, such as philosophy of language; it also discusses at no point the position of scientism, which deserves some attention (at least in my opinion, even though I don't endorse it). I guess people could also point out the lack of any discussion of methods used in continental philosophy (phenomenology, deconstruction, Merleau-Ponty's naturalism, etc.), but I was already expecting that, given that the author works mainly in the analytic tradition.

In any case, I woud still recommend this book for anyone interested in questions about the uses of philosophical methods and the nature of philosophical practices in general.

[Lukas op de Beke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit hit and miss, if you ask me. I liked the first two chapters on resp. common sense and philosophical analysis (especially the latter), to a lesser extent the one on simplicity, and the chapter on science started off well, but then became rather unilluminating. The other chapters on thought experiments and explanation were atrocious.