Doing Philosophy

Outline

Doing Philosophy (2018) explains how philosophers actually work, from asking questions and using common sense to building arguments, testing theories with thought experiments, and using logic. Timothy Williamson shows that philosophy shares more with science than many people assume, and offers readers a clear introduction to the methods that make philosophical thinking rigorous and useful.

• Philosophy starts with asking good questions, and the way a question is framed shapes the answers that are possible.
• Common sense is a legitimate starting point for philosophical work, not something to be thrown out at the first step.
• Building a clear argument is central to doing philosophy, because it lets others examine and challenge each step.
• Thought experiments let philosophers test theories by imagining cases and checking whether the theory still holds up.
• Philosophy shares more with science than many people assume, and logic is one of the tools that keeps its thinking rigorous.

Timothy Williamson is a British philosopher and, for many years, the Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. He is known for his work on knowledge, vagueness, logic, and the methods of philosophy. His books include Knowledge and Its Limits, Vagueness, and The Philosophy of Philosophy.