Reflections on the Analytic/Continental Divide Essay -- Research Essay

Reflections on the Analytic/Continental DivideMy friends in the English department oft ask me to explain the difference I so often talk about between analytic and Continental school of thought. For some left(p) reason they want to relate our discipline with theirs in an effort, maybe, to understand twain better. Thus, I welcome the opportunity offered by Schuylkills general theme this form to give a very general and un-rigorous presentation on Philosophy, intend for the University Community at large. One fine, if annoying, tradition in philosophy is that of hedgerow our bets. Its the fine art of being slippery. And we actually come back its motivated by a wish to be exacting. Accordingly, I should begin such a paper by saying that neither analytic nor continental philosophy are truly cohesive, unified, groups overmuch which seems inconsistent flows under their banner, as does much disagreement. However, today, few groups of any merit are cohesive and unified, if they ever wer e. rase science isnt unified any more. So much for fine scratch bordering on the platitudinous. This paper has four sections. The first section places analytic and continental philosophy within a historical tradition, specifically in congener to Kant. The second details analytic philosophy, particularly with relation to the linguistic turn and ordinary language philosophy. The triplet juxtaposes what I take to be a continental response in terms of Heideggers view of language and Foucaults view of power/knowledge, and shows some of the disrepute in which these are held. The last reviews some recent journal articles on the subject, and delivers a summation and prognosis. I. You all know about the Pre-Socratics, of which I think fondly of Heraclitus, so o... ...of Pure Reason. Trans. Norman Kemp Smith. New York St. Martins, 1965. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. throng W. Ellington. Indianapolis Hackett, 1977. Margolis, Joseph. Historied Thought Constructed World. B erkeley U of California P, 1995. A Biopsy of modern Analytic Philosophy. The Philosophical Forum XXVI.3 (1995) 161-188. McDowell, John. Mind and World. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1994. Norris, Christopher. Doubting Castle or the Slough of Despond Davidson and Schiffer on the Limits of Analysis. The Review of Metaphysics 50 (December 1996) 351-82. Quine, Willard Van Orman. twain Dogmas of Empiricism. The Philosophy of Language. Ed. A.P. Martinich. New York Oxford UP, 1996. 39-60. Schlick, Morris. The Turning Point in Philosophy. formal Positivism. Ed. A. J. Ayer. New York Free, 1959. qtd. in Follesdal (200).