哲学は進歩するのか、他とは全く異質な学問なのか。哲学が抱える問題に新鮮かつ刺激的なアプローチで取り組みます。哲学的思考の実例から、その方法論を説明することで、思考を明晰化し、明確に語ることを旨とする学問の独特さを解きほぐします。また、哲学の方法論が理論に頼らねばならない理由、想像的な思考実験、他の学問で用いられる尺度との比較を説明し、哲学の論理的厳格さはその説明能力を向上させるものであると指摘します。良い意味で哲学に対する見方を変えてくれる一冊です。
   

• Assuming no previous knowledge of philosophy, this is a highly accesible account of how modern philosophers think and work
• Presents a distinctive view of philosophy, arguing that it is far more scientific than many philosophers think
• Includes a wealth of examples from history charting the successes and failures of philosophical thinking
• Offers a timely and much needed intervention in the current hot debate on philosophical methodology
• Written by one of Britain's leading philosophers
• Previously published in hardback as Doing Philosophy

    
What are philosophers trying to achieve? How can they succeed? Does philosophy make progress? Is it in competition with science, or doing something completely different, or neither?
   
Timothy Williamson tackles some of the key questions surrounding philosophy in new and provocative ways, showing how philosophy begins in common sense curiosity, and develops through our capacity to dispute rationally with each other. Discussing philosophy's ability to clarify our thoughts, he explains why such clarification depends on the development of philosophical theories, and how those theories can be tested by imaginative thought experiments, and compared against each other by standards similar to those used in the natural and social sciences. He also shows how logical rigour can be understood as a way of enhancing the explanatory power of philosophical theories. Drawing on the history of philosophy to provide a track record of philosophical thinking's successes and failures, Williams overturns widely held dogmas about the distinctive nature of philosophy in comparison to the sciences, demystifies its methods, and considers the future of the discipline.
   
From thought experiments, to deduction, to theories, this Very Short Introduction will cause you to totally rethink what philosophy is.