Examining Philosophy Itself by Yafeng Shan

Examining Philosophy Itself by Yafeng Shan

EXAMINING PHILOSOPHY ITSELF

One of the most distinctive features of philosophy is self-reflection. Philosophers are not only concerned with metaphysical, epistemological, conceptual, ethical, and aesthetic issues of things around us, they also pay serious attention to the nature, value, methods, and development of philosophy itself. This book examines some of the most important metaphilosophical issues: Is philosophy progressive? Are metaphysical claims meaningful? What is the aim of philosophy? Should analytic metaphysics be replaced by naturalised metaphysics? What is the prospect of a digital approach to philosophy of science? Can poetry play a substantial role in philosophy? Examining Philosophy Itself will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in philosophy.

YAFENG SHAN is a research fellow in epistemology in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cologne, Germany. He completed his Ph.D. at University College London. His main interests are philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, and metaphilosophy. He is the author of Doing Integrated History and Philosophy of Science: A Case Study of the Origin of Genetics (2020) and the editor of New Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Progress (2022). He has also published research articles in such journals as Synthese, Philosophy of Science, Metaphilosophy, and Philosophy Compass.