ABSTRACT
Why Criminology Needs Philosophy Philosophy is the mother of all science-indeed, of all formal knowledge. Because the
subject matter she claims for herself is the whole of knowledge, she fusses around at the
periphery of all the sciences, as well as that of the arts and humanities. Philosophers
retain a child-like wonder about all things (after all, philosophymeans “love of wisdom”),
and they were pondering much the same kinds of questions that modern sciences ask
long before they were parceled out to different disciplines. They contemplated these
questions relying only on their rational faculties and on an occasional observation
unaided by any of the marvelous accoutrements with which modern science is blessed.
Although philosophy’s domain is shrinking as the sciences advance, it still has a valuable
role to play in knowledge synthesis and holding before us the continuity of thought
bequeathed to us by the great minds of the past. Philosophy thus continues to monitor
her offspring in childhood and adolescence, making sure that in their haste to grow up
they do not lose contact with the foundational principles of knowledge seeking all her
children share. Whether the practitioners of the various sciences know it or not, there
cannot be a philosophy-free science.
