TITLE:
Philosophical Theory-Construction and the Self-Image of Philosophy
AUTHORS:
Niels Skovgaard Olsen
KEYWORDS:
Meta-Philosophy, Hacker, Williamson, Philosophical Theories
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.4 No.3,
August
6,
2014
ABSTRACT: This article takes
its point of departure in a criticism of the views on meta-philosophy of P.M.S.
Hacker for being too dismissive of the possibility of philosophical
theory-construction. But its real aim is to put forward an explanatory
hypothesis for the lack of a body of established truths and universal research
programs in philosophy along with the outline of a positive account of what
philosophical theories are and of how to assess them. A corollary of the
present account is that it allows us to account for the objective dimension of
philosophical discourse without taking recourse to the problematic idea of
there being worldly facts that function as truth-makers for philosophical
claims.