Publisher's Synopsis
The debate about the origins of analytical philosophy has recently been revived by Michael Dummett′s definition of analytic philosophy as based on the Fregean idea that the analysis of thought proceeds through the analysis of language. The contributors to this collection take a wider perspective on the rise of analytic philosophy. They include its anglophone roots, and take into consideration later developments up to and beyond the Vienna Circle. Some of them argue that Dummett′s account would exclude paradigmatic analytic philosophers like Moore, Russell and perhaps even Frege himself. There is also a marked interest in the more general question of whether analytic philosophy can be defined analytically at all, or whether it should be treated as a family resemblance concept or as a particular historical tradition. The papers tackle an important topic in a scholarly yet lively way.
