ABSTRACT
Analytic philosophy has been the predominant philosophical movement of the twentieth century. Almost from its inception, it was allied with the spirit of rationality and science, and was dedicated to the overthrow of speculative metaphysics and the eradication of philosophical mystification. Methodologically it was associated with the employment of the new logic as a source of philosophical insight and, somewhat later-after the linguistic turn in philosophy-with a principled and meticulous attention to language and its use. Analytic philosophy flourished in various forms from the 1910s until the 1970s. In the last quarter of the century, however, it has lost its distinctive profile, retaining the name of analytic philosophy largely through its genealogy, the foci of concern which it shares with the antecedent tradition, and its contrastive juxtaposition with certain forms of continental philosophy.
