Methods and Skills for Philosophy

Methods and Skills for Philosophy introduces students to methodologies, strategies, heuristics and formal tools which are typically employed in contemporary analytic philosophy. This helpful resource gets the reader to engage with the analytical skills required to master postgraduate studies in philosophy.

In conjunction with analysing texts, reflecting on arguments and trying to solve problems, the book will help instil in students the kind of understanding, knowledge and skills they need to succeed at the postgraduate level. More specifically, students will have a better grasp of how to pose a succinct research question and then critically pursue the proposed topic by engaging with relevant literature, reflecting on philosophical presuppositions, selecting suitable argumentative strategies and defending a preferred view against objections. Topics covered include:

• the nature and character of arguments
• conceptual analysis
• analytical truths
• logic and language
• models of explanation and reduction
• strategies and dialectics
• rational intuitions.

Methods and Skills for Philosophy: An Advanced Guide provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to philosophical methods. It is a must-read for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate students of philosophy, and also suitable for those studying postgraduate philosophy who have a background in other academic disciplines.

Jesper Kallestrup is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He is co-editor of Extended Epistemology (2018), Socially Extended Epistemology (2018) and Being Reduced: New Essays on Reduction, Explanation, and Causation (2010). His 2013 book Semantic Externalism is also published by Routledge.