ABSTRACT
Philosophy is an academic subject with ancient roots, considerable intellectual prestige and, latterly, a highly technical manner of going about its business. That business has been described here as a continuous tradition of grappling with a small number of rather abstract and general problems. Philosophers grapple with these problems in various ways, but most characteristically by argument—a word with two distinct meanings. An argument is a chain of reasoning towards a conclusion. It is also, in common speech, a quarrel. Philosophers engage in both chains of reasoning and quarrelling. Indeed, rubberneckers from other disciplines are often shocked by philosophers’ penchant for vituperation and polemic. There is method to their madness. Most philosophical problems do not lend themselves to mathematical or scientific treatment and, therefore, disputes can only be handled by testing the strengths of rival positions. This is done by pitting them against each other, probing for weak spots, delivering low blows. Most philosophical writing and speaking is done with the invoked presence of at least one other, the Opponent or Critic. At times a philosopher will simply marshal objections to his own view and deal with them. At other times he will indicate how the objections stem from a reasonably coherent alternative to his view. At still other times he may conjure with two or more views, testing them against each other and not clearly side with any.
