Philosophical theory
A philosophical theory or philosophical position[1] is a view that attempts to explain or account for a particular problem in philosophy.[citation needed] The use of the term "theory" is a statement of colloquial English and not a technical term.[2] While any sort of thesis or opinion may be termed a position, in analytic philosophy it is thought best to reserve the word "theory" for systematic, comprehensive attempts to solve problems.[3]
Overview
The elements that comprise a philosophical position consist of statements which are believed to be true by the thinkers who accept them, and which may or may not be empirical. The sciences have a very clear idea of what a theory is; however in the arts such as philosophy, the definition is more hazy. Philosophical positions are not necessarily scientific theories, although they may consist of both empirical and non-empirical statements.
The collective statements of all
Some examples of philosophical positions include:
- incompleteness theorem.
- Political theory; positions that underlie a political philosophy, such as John Rawls' theory of justice.
- .
- Marxist thought that aims at criticizing and transforming, rather than merely explaining, social structures.[5] In a broader sense, "critical theory" relates to a wide variety of political, literary, and philosophical positions that take at least some of their inspiration from the Frankfurt School and its dialectic, and that typically contest the possibility of objectivity or aloofness from political positions and privileges.[6]
Philosophical positions may also take the form of a
See also
References
- ^ a b Dictionary of Theories, Jennifer Bothamley
- ISBN 0-415-05872-4.
- ISBN 0-415-04222-4.
- ^ Richard T. Garner and Bernard Rosen, Moral Philosophy: A Systematic Introduction to Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics. (Macmillan, 1967)
- ^ See generally, Max Horkheimer, Traditional and Critical Theory (1937)
- ^ "Critical theory" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy