Introduction: Analytic Philosophy and Philosophical History

Abstract

During the last 25 years, a large number of publications on the history of analytic philosophy have appeared, significantly more than in the preceding period. As most of these works are by analytically trained authors, it is tempting to speak of a ‘historical turn’ in analytic philosophy. The present volume constitutes both a contribution to this body of work and a reflection on what is, or might be, achieved in it. In this introduction, the growing interest in the history of analytic philosophy is put into context. The introduction has two parts. In the first part, the traditionally uneasy relationship between analytic philosophy and history of philosophy is explored.1 This is done in several ways: by acknowledging the bias against studying the history of philosophy often associated with analytic philosophy (section 1.1); by establishing that, nevertheless, analytic philosophers have engaged with the works of historical figures in a number of ways (1.2); and by exploring, against that background, various forms in which analytic philosophy and ‘philosophical history’ may be combined fruitfully (1.3). In the introduction’s second part, a survey of work on the history of analytic philosophy from the last 25 years is provided (2.1), together with abstracts for the new essays in this volume (2.2), and both are supplemented by a representative bibliography (2.3).