Published In
Essays in Philosophy
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2012
Abstract
The paper explores the question of the relationship between the practice of original philosophical inquiry and the study of the history of philosophy. It is written from my point of view as someone starting a research project in the history of philosophy that calls this issue into question, in order to review my starting positions. I argue: first, that any philosopher is sufficiently embedded in culture that her practice is necessarily historical; second, that original work is in fact in part a reconstruction by reinterpretation of the past and that therefore it bears some relation to historiographic techniques for the restoration of damaged objects and texts; and third that the special oddities of the relations of present and past do not fail to ensnare the philosopher, who must restore the past but freely break from it. I describe this relationship as proleptic. Finally, I argue that this is a moral imperative in writing philosophy, derived from the imperative to be honest.
Rights
At the time of publication Bennett Gilbert was affiliated with Reed College.
© Bennett Gilbert 2012
Locate the Document
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/32461
Citation Details
Gilbert, Bennett (2012) "Freshest Advices on What To Do With the Historical Method in Philosophy When Using It to Study a Little Bit of Philosophy That Has Been Lost to History," Essays in Philosophy: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Description
At the time of publication Bennett Gilbert was affiliated with Reed College.
© Bennett Gilbert 2012