An Introduction to Metaphilosophy

What is philosophy? How should we do it? Why should we bother to? These are the kinds of questions addressed by metaphilosophy – the philosophical study of the nature of philosophy itself. Students of philosophy today are faced with a confusing and daunting array of philosophical methods, approaches and styles and also deep divisions such as the notorious rift between analytic and Continental philosophy. This book takes readers through a full range of approaches – analytic versus Continental, scientistic versus humanistic, 'pure' versus applied – enabling them to locate and understand these different ways of doing philosophy. Clearly and accessibly written, it will stimulate reflection on philosophical practice and will be invaluable for students of philosophy and other philosophically inclined readers.

Søren Overgaard is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author of Husserl and Heidegger on Being in the World (2004) and Wittgenstein and Other Minds (2007) and co-editor (with Sebastian Luft) of The Routledge Companion to Phenomenology (2011).

Paul Gilbert is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hull. He is the author of New Terror, New Wars (2003), The World, the Flesh and the Subject (with Kathleen Lennon, 2005) and Cultural Identity and Political Ethics (2010).

Stephen Burwood is Head of the Department of Humanities at the University of Hull. He is the author of Philosophy of Mind (with Kathleen Lennon and Paul Gilbert, 1998).