Abstract
Abstract This concluding chapter argues that pragmatic genealogies show us to what extent the ideas we live by merit our confidence by revealing whether and when they are ideas worth having. Returning to the opening contrast between Socratic and Pragmatic Questions, the chapter argues that the kind of pragmatic inquiry exemplified by pragmatic genealogies is something that Socratic inquiry can be grounded in and guided by. The answer to a ‘What is X?’ question cannot be the last word, because the authority of any answer to that question needs to be assessed in light of the merit of accepting it as authoritative. Finally, the chapter highlights how the method of pragmatic genealogy provides philosophy with a vessel for incorporating social, psychological, and historical understanding into philosophy, thereby offering philosophers a concrete model for how to pursue philosophy as a humanistic discipline, in integration with neighbouring human sciences.
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