Metaphilosophy & Method · The status of philosophical problems

Philosophical Quietism

Many philosophical puzzles call for dissolving a confusion rather than constructing a new theory.

What it claims

Philosophical quietism treats many traditional problems as confusions generated when language becomes detached from its ordinary work. Philosophy then has a therapeutic task: expose a misleading picture so that the apparent problem loses its grip, rather than add another theory. The later Wittgenstein is a central source, describing philosophy as resistance to linguistic bewitchment and using the image of showing a fly out of a fly-bottle.

Nearby positions

Key thinkers

Ludwig Wittgenstein · John McDowell · Richard Rorty · Crispin Wright · Paul Horwich