Ernest Gellner's Words and Things: A Case Study of Empirical Philosophy |
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| Authors: | Stefan Schubert |
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| Affiliation: | Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, Lakatos Building, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | This article considers how Ernest Gellner used sociology and anthropology to attack ordinary language philosophy in Words and Things. It argues that this attack can be seen as a part of the movement to make philosophy more empirical or “naturalized,” something that has not been generally noted. It also discusses what general lessons to draw from Words and Things regarding how empirical knowledge should be used in philosophy. Among other things, the article argues that one important lesson is that empirical philosophers should make more use of “soft” social sciences, such as sociology and anthropology, and not focus exclusively on “harder” disciplines, such as physics and experimental psychology. Another upshot of the discussion is that philosophers should draw on empirical knowledge not only when they solve problems but also when they formulate them. |
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| Keywords: | empirical philosophy Ernest Gellner Ludwig Wittgenstein metaphilosophy naturalized philosophy ordinary language philosophy philosophical methodology |
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