If “thinking” could be accepted as a name for philosophy, a successful phenomenology of thinking would be a part of metaphilosophy. Instead of “metaphilosophy” we can use the expression “philosophy of philosophy,” but we should not suggest from the outset that the phenomenon of “philosophical thought” can be fully understood from a philosophical perspective alone. If philosophy were the highest level of thought, then such an assumption would be obvious. However, we would be too hasty if, without thorough investigation, we excluded the possibility of a still higher, deeper, more original, or more encompassing perspective or dimension.

Before answering the...

For a long time, philosophy has presented itself as a fundamental form of thinking based on experience and logic. Besides fundamentality or originariness, its characteristics most emphasized were universality and autonomy.

Modern Western philosophy owes its origin to a rebellion against religious and theological dominance.¹ It wanted to free itself from all authorities except the undeniable authority of self-observed givenness and demonstrative thought. All opinions and beliefs, including the real or putative wisdoms of ancient and recent “fathers” and “mothers,” should be ignored in philosophy, even if they continue to inform the practice of most lives. From now on, thinkers...

Did you say anything? What did you say? You said something to me. Did you say something about something to me? About someone? About me? To me? Did you call me? Greet me? Implore me? Warn me? Insult me?

My first encounters with language occurred when others spoke to me: my mother, perhaps the doctor who delivered me, a nurse, my father, sisters, brothers. As a greeting, it welcomed me into the world. They said somethingaboutme, while speaking to one another. That touched me only laterally; but in speakingtome, they drew my attention, thus orienting my...

If we are engaged in philosophical conversations, we owe this to our teachers who, before us, were already at home in the world of philosophy. To what extent is this “world” not only a culture but also a community?

In any case, we cannot doubt that philosophy’s institutions and rituals condition its discussions. If the world of philosophy constitutes a community, our contributions express membership. However personal and original someone’s thinking might be, it emerges from a wider context composed by former experiences and thoughts. An accurate description of such contexts and our dependence on them needs the contributions of...

From 600 b.c. to the nineteenth century, few European philosophers have denied the existence and the workings of God, gods, or other divine powers. How could they be sure that they were not appealing to illusions or empty names? Did their beliefs rest on proofs? Although some of them tried to construe such proofs, even most of them already presupposed the existence of their divinities when they entered the realm of philosophy. That they also wanted to demonstrate that their belief was rational cannot surprise us, but we have become more skeptical with regard to the validity of their proofs....