System and History in Philosophy

Adriaan Theodoor Peperzak is Full Professor and Chair of Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Ethics in the Philosophy Department of the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

• Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter I. Is Thematic Philosophy Still Possible? 1. The present-day situation of philosophy2. Think on your own!2.1 What does this incentive mean?2.2 Is this a good incentive?Chapter II. Philosophy is Learning 1. Pupil, teacher, text2. Learning3. Discussion with existing philosophies4. "Classical" and "contemporary"5. To which philosophers must I turn?6. Consequences for a history of philosophy6.1 Why "the history of philosophy" cannot be written6.2 Every history of philosophy is an expression of a thematic philosophy6.3 The necessity for a certain "positivism" in the history of philosophy6.4 Specific problems of the history of philosophy6.4.1 Individual philosophers— The work— A text— An oeuvre— Work and life6.4.2 Milieu and time6.4.3 Philosophical constellationsa. The unity of an oeuvreb. The unity of a periodc. The unity of a history6.5 Dogmatism and hermeneuticsChapter III. Philosophy as Discussion 1. Philosophy as dialogue2. Conversations in search of truth2.1 SpeakingA parenthetical remark2.2 Dialogue2.3 Topics of conversation2.4 Conversation, combat, violence (or:dialogue and rhetoric)2.4.1 Speaking as fighting2.4.2 Rhetoric2.4.3 Polemic2.4.4 An ethics of violence2.4.5 Conditions for a good polemic2.4.6 Universal polemics?2.4.7 Democratic deliberation2.4.8 Polemics and rhetoric2.5 The time structure of conversation3. Is philosophy a conversation?3.1 Thematic philosophy and conversation3.2 Thematic philosophy and the history of philosophy3.3 The abolition of the individual subject3.4 Conversation and text3.5 Unmaskings3.6 Thematic philosophy and rhetoric3.7 The individual and the powers4. The history of philosophy as conversation4.1 Text and author4.2 Interpretation,4.3 An ethics of interpretation,4.4 Anonymous thought,4.5 History of philosophy as a triumph,4.6 The history of philosophy as discussion,4.7 Teamwork in philosophy?4.8 Historiography as a presentation of others,4.9 Theatrum philosophicum ,4.10 Scepticism and time,4.11 Solitude and hope,Chapter IV. Philosophy and Truth Notes Selected Bibliography Index of Proper Names Subject Index