On the Anti-Historicism of Analytic Philosophy and Its Evolution in the 20th–21st Centuries

Abstract

The article deals with the transformations of the self-image of analytic philosophy as it evolved in the second half of the 20th and 21st centuries. Anti-historicism, neutrality towards any national traditions of thought, rigor of argumentation and clarity, etc. contributed to the cross-border expansion and establishment of analytic philosophy as an academic discipline. However, its basic principles and ideas were eventually either rejected or radically revised. The philosophical movement that initially set out to achieve the "elimination of metaphysics through logical analysis of language" (Rudolf Carnap) later became even more metaphysically loaded than other intellectual schools or traditions. Among contemporary analytic philosophers there is no unity in understanding the method and tasks of philosophy, and the very focus on language — in the case of philosophy of mind for instance — has proven to be somewhat optional. Today, analytic philosophy presents itself as a conglomeration of philosophical doctrines and research programs that are quite distinct in content, united only by their more or less pronounced commitment to a particular style of thinking. This allows us to touch on the issue of the "identity crisis" in analytic philosophy.