Philosophy Outside-in: A Critique of Academic Reason

This is a sustained critique of present-day academic philosophy combined with a practical agenda for change. Christopher Norris raises some basic questions about the way that analytic philosophy has been conducted over the past 25 years. In doing so, he offers an alternative to what he sees as an over-specialisation of a lot of recent academic work. Arguing that analytic philosophy has led to a narrowing of sights to the point where other approaches that might be more productive are blocked from view, he goes against the grain to claim that Continental philosophy holds the resources for a creative renewal of analytic thought. It draws on a wide range of examples to shine light on one topic: philosophy’s current condition and how we can move beyond it. It addresses issues of interest to students and teachers of philosophy in both the analytic and the Continental traditions: speculative realism, the ‘extended mind’ hypothesis, experimental philosophy, the ontology of political song, linguistic philosophy, anti-realism and epistemological scepticism. It interrogates the analytical zeitgeist through a vigorous critique of the prevailing modes of thought.