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‘Origins of Continental Philosophy: How to get from Kant to German Idealism’ considers the historical development of Continental philosophy, beginning by distinguishing it from analytic philosophy. It explains that the problematic of Continental philosophy arose out of criticisms of Kant and must be understood in this context. The other issue that determines the course of Continental philosophy is the atheist conflict, which began in 1798. There is a path in the Continental tradition from the critique of Kant in Hamann and Jacobi, through to the religious and, indeed, irreligious anti-rationalism of Kierkegaard, Stirner, and Dostoevsky through to the post-war French existentialism of Sartre and Camus. ...Less

‘How many things are there?’ introduces Gottlob Frege (1848–1925), one of the main founders of analytic philosophy whose central concern was with the nature of mathematics, and arithmetic in particular. It considers the question ‘How many things are there?’, concluding a simple answer is not permitted without specifying the relevant concept(s) by means of which to think of the things. If how to answer a given question is not immediately obvious, then we need to identify its possible meanings. Perhaps we will find the intended or relevant meaning by understanding the context; if not, then we may need to imagine possible contexts in which the question has an answer. ...Less

One claim often made about analytic philosophy is that it places great emphasis on clarity of thinking, precision of expression, and rigour of argumentation. But other intellectual virtues that might be considered are creativity, fruitfulness, and systematicity. The Introduction aims to give some sense of the conceptual creativity of analytic philosophy and the bigger picture in which its fruitfulness and systematic ambitions can be appreciated. Analytic philosophy is called ‘analytic’ because of the emphasis placed on analysis. But this just raises the question of what is meant by ‘analysis’, and what forms of analysis are employed in analytic philosophy. This is best answered by considering a range of philosophical questions. ...Less

‘Russell's influence’ describes the impact of Bertrand Russell on mainstream philosophy in the English language as it has been practised since the years between the two world wars, logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the changed moral climate of the twentieth-century Western world, and attempts to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The influence of Russell's Theory of Descriptions on his former pupil Ludwig Wittgenstein is explained, along with his impact on the Logical Positivists and philosophers W. V. Quine, Rudolf Carnap, and Gilbert Ryle. Jules Vuillemin said that contemporary philosophy began with The Principles of Mathematics and Russell's whole body of work is considered as the foundation for analytic philosophy. ...Less

There are various similarities and differences between the respective approaches to analytic philosophy of Frege, Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, and Stebbing. But is there anything in common that could be taken to characterize analytic philosophy as a whole? ‘So what is analytic philosophy?’ explains that analytic philosophy is ‘analytic’ in an extra special sense because it made use of modern logic together with all the new techniques that emerged in its wake and the greater understanding of the relationship between logic and language that this generated. It looks at later analytic philosophy—ordinary language philosophy, ideal language philosophy, and scientific philosophy—before considering what is wrong and good about analytic philosophy. ...Less

‘Institutions and literary forms’ explains how the history of Latin Christian philosophy is strikingly different from the other three traditions, because so much of the best work took place in, and was shaped by, institutions dedicated to teaching and learning. In Islamic lands, the focus of teaching and learning was on the relationship between teacher and pupil. In all four traditions, medieval philosophizing centred around commentary, but there was also a tendency for thinkers to try to bring together in a single work (summa or treatise) their understanding of the whole of philosophy or theology. Dialogues and other literary forms, such as versification and novels, were also used. ...Less