Introduction to "History of Late Analytic Philosophy"

Abstract

Over the last thirty years historical attention has been directed toward analytic philosophy: some analytic philosophers have begun reflecting on the philosophical tradition they belong to, while many other scholars have been working on what has now become a well-established discipline known as “history of analytic philosophy” (for a comprehensive bibliography see Beaney 2013). Yet this historiographical perspective mainly focuses on the origins of analytic philosophy or on the central decades of the 20th century. These two periods can be labelled respectively as early analytic philosophy (Frege, Russell, Moore, the early Wittgenstein, etc.) and as middle analytic philosophy (Carnap, Ryle, the later Wittgenstein, Quine, etc.) The use of the former label is firmly established, whereas the latter is less common, yet fairly natural. By contrast, a proper historical investigation of the most recent stages of analytic philosophy is greatly needed. Some contributions towards a better understanding of this issue are available. Among them: Baldwin (2001), Priest (2003), Soames (2003: vol. II, 461-476), Williamson (2007, chapter i and “Afterword”), Beaney (2013), Williamson (2014), Tripodi (2015, chapter iv). But they are still few and far between. This special issue of Philosophical Inquiries is intended to be a further stimulus for such an investigation.

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