Philosophical Reasoning A Study in the Methodology of Philosophizing [Hardcover]

This book is a study in the methodology of philosophical inquiry. It expounds and defends the thesis that systematization is the proper instrument of philosophical inquiry and that the effective pursuit of philosophy's mission calls for constructing a doctrinal system that answers our questions in a coherent and comprehensive manner.Preface.

Introduction.

Part I: The Task of Philosophy:.

The Erotetic Nature of Philosophy: Philosophy as a Cognitive Enterprise.

The Need for Philosophy: Humans as Homo Quaerens.

Rationality is the Instrument of Philosophy.

Philosophy as Truth Estimation.

The Data of Philosophy.

Metaphilosophical Issues.

Part II: Philosophizing as an Erotetic Enterprise: The Dialectic of Question and Answer:.

Questions and their Presuppositions: Issues Regarding the Legitimacy of Questions.

Question Dynamics: Kant's Principle of Question Propagation and the Dialectical Exfoliation of Questions.

Philosophy as a Venture in Erotetic Dialectic.

Philosophical Assessment.

Part III: What's on the Agenda?:.

Unexamined Issues and Agenda Formation.

The Recent Scene.

Metaphilosophy a Part of Philosophy Itself.

The Political Dimension: A Struggle for Ownership.

The Systemic Dimension.

Part IV: Philosophical Discourse:.

The Narrative Dimension of Philosophy.

The Method of Philosophy: Truth-Estimative Conjecture.

Ongoing Explanation.

Historical Unity of Philosophy.

The Data of Philosophy.

Part V: Interpreting lCn