概念分析法:一个物理主义的评估

Conceptual Analysis: A Physicalistic Appraisal

物理主义作为一种整体哲学世界观应该对哲学研究方法也有所论断。在物理主义框架下分析、评估传统哲学研究中的概念分析法,可以得出:概念分析并不是阐明已有的一个哲学概念的内部结构,而是寻找一个新的、用语言定义的等价概念;物理主义可以解释概念分析法的"先天性",以及为什么哲学研究中使用概念分析法得出的结果经常不可靠;哲学与其他科学分支一样,都是试图在观察世界的基础上构造真实地描述世界的理论,哲学中的概念分析则与科学中的纯理论研究一样,是分析、重构已有的理论;哲学中的概念分析法有其实用上的不可替代性。这些结论也表明,物理主义世界观其实支持而且能够解释传统哲学中的一些合理的方法论实践。

Physicalism, as a global philosophical worldview, should include some implications on philosophical methodology. Examining the method of conceptual analysis in traditional philosophy we conclude that:(1)Conceptual analysis is not really explicating the structure of an existent concept, but instead, it is looking for a new linguistic description that is equivalent to the old, existent concept in some way;(2)Physicalism can explain the apparent apriority of conceptual analysis and explain why such an "a priori" method frequently leads to unreliable conclusions;(3)Philosophy is just like sciences and is aiming to construct truthful theories describing the physical world based on observations about the world, and conceptual analysis in philosophy is similar to pure theoretical researches in sciences, which aim at analyzing and restructuring some existent scientific theories;(4)The method of conceptual analysis is perhaps practically indispensable for philosophical researches. These conclusions also show that physicalism in fact supports and can explain some valid methodological practices in traditional philosophy.