Analytic Philosophy: GRE EN

ANALYTIC
PHILOSOPHY GRE
EN
Analytical Philosophy
- A 20th century philosophy which fluorished in

Britain anfd USA
- it is a rejection of traditional philosophy which is too

speculative, idealistic and abstract as exemplified by
the common early methaphysical question
Analytic philosophy, according to Thompson;
(1995:182), is ‘concerned with the meaning of
statements and the way in which their truth
can be verified, and with using philosophy as
analytic tool to examine and show the
presuppositions of our language and thought.’
Example of statements: The standard of

education has fallen down Ineffectiveness of
schools lowers the standard of education
Analytic philosophy is an activity itself not a
system of thought like other philosophies as
emphasized by Vennagum in (Popkin and
Stroll:1981) that ‘it is not a theory but an activity’.
A good example of philosophy as an activity

rather than a theory is through Socratic method;
which tries to clarify people’s ideas by seeking
clarification of questions which ultimately leads to
agreed, precise and adequate definitions.
This begins with: posing a question focusing on
concepts or terms; freedom, courage, fear,
discipline, beauty, performance; define the term in
relation to people’s experiences; consider their
opposites; clarify the meaning; consensus
BACKGROUND OF THE PROPENTS
Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege
✔ Born on 1848 and died in 1925.
✔ German matematician, logician, and
philosopher who worked at the University of
Jena.
✔ Widely regarded as the Father of the Modern
Philosophical Logic, and his development of
Predicate Logic.
✔ He conceived a comprehensive philosophy of
language that many philosopher still find
insightful
✔ He provided the foundations for the modern
discipline of logic by developing a more
perspicuous method of formally representing
the logic of thoughts and inferences.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell
✔ Born on 1872 and died in 1970
✔ British philosopher, logician, essayist and
social critic best known for his work in
mathematical logic and analytic philosophy
✔ he is generally recognized as one of the
founders of the modern analytic philosophy
✔ his most influential comtributions include
his championing of logicism, his refining of
Gottlob’s predicate cculus, his defense of
neutral monism, and his theories of definite
descriptions, logical atomism and logical
types.
Alfred North Whitehead
(AKA A.N. Whitehead)
✔ British mathematician, logician and
philosopher.
✔ He is considered one of the founding figures of
Analytic Philosophy, and he contributed
significantly to 20th Century Logic, especially
the new symbolic type of logic he developed in
the epochal “Principia Mathematica”, along the
with co-author Bertrand Russell.
✔ He also developed a fesh approach to
Methaphysics, which he originally called
Philosophy of Organism as Process Philosophy.
Ludwig Wittgeinstein
✔ Born on 1889 and legend has it that, at his
death in 1951, his last word were “Tell the I’ve
had a wonderful life.”
✔ Considered by some to be the greatest
philosopher of the 20th century.
✔ Played a central, if controversial, role in the
20th-century analytical philosophy.
✔ He continues to influence curent philosophical
thought in topics as diverse as logic and
language, perception and intention, ethics and
religion, aesthetics and culture.
✔ Epitomized in his Tractatus Logico-
Philosophicus and with his second, Philosophicl
Investigations.
George Edward Moore (G.E Moore)
✔ He hated his first names, ‘George Edward’ and
never used them - his wife called him ‘Bill
✔ He was an important British philosoper of the
first half of the twentienth century. He was one
of the trinity of philosophers at Trinity College
Campbridge, who made Cambridge one of the
centres of what we now call ‘analytical
philosophy ‘. But his work embraced themes
and concerns that reach well beyond any single
philosophical programme.
✔ The main achievement of Moore’s early period is
his book Principia Ethica.
Moore and Bruder (1990) give the ideas of some
philosophers on Philosophical Analysis: Ludwig
Wittgenstein (1889-1951): ‘the goal of analysis
was to reduce all complex descriptive
propositions to their ultimately simple
constituent propositions’. Complex descriptive
proposition Square circles are nonexistent things
Simple proposition No squares are circular
Russell (1872-1970) in) contends that analysis is
the proper method of philosophy. Ryle: Analysis is a
linguistic therapy to the confusion of traditional
philosophy. Logical positivists who proclaimed the
verifiability criterion of meaning contends that
philosophy is not a theory but an activity whose
business is the logical clarification of thought.
So analytic philosophy: does not deal with building
systems of thought; deals with clarification of
language that we use to explain phenomenon; does
not prescribe goals in education but enable us to
understand better those goals and aims prescribed;
simplifies communication to facilitate
understanding of meaning by checking the clarity of
language.
In education More concerned with formulation of education
ideas and clear expression of those ideas for easy
understanding; –A university that tries to put its professors
and its students as blinkers will neither serve the cause of
knowledge, nor the interest of the society in which it exists
(Nyerere in Lema et al; 2006:29) Analysis of other people’s
ideas on education to avoid misunderstanding Discuss the
concepts that are commonly used in education, teaching,
learning, knowledge and curriculum to check their clarity.
Discuss issues and problems that arise in the conduct of
education, analyze them and put them in clear perspective;
method, technique, strategy
Relevance Teaching sound reasoning Avoid contradictions
in statements Making use of all available evidence and
facts when putting forward an argument Teachers learn to
accept or reject arguments on the basis of their
soundness and clarity not on emotional basis or who is
making an argument. Through clarification and precise
analysis a teacher can understand personal prejudices and
expose what are the real issues
In school teachers can: avoid unnecessary disagreements,
contradictions, inconsistencies and dogmatic decisions.
trains high sense of imagination and reasoning; Justify
and weigh opinions of different groups in the school or in
the community and analyze what is right, wrong or
rational; express concepts clearly in classroom; Critically
analyze issues for comprehensive decisions Analyze
language as symbolic meaning of communication

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ANALYTIC

- A 20th century philosophy which fluorished in

- it is a rejection of traditional philosophy which is too

Example of statements: The standard of

A good example of philosophy as an activity

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