Why We Came to Think as We Do

Abstract

This introductory chapter presents the questions and concerns animating the book and outlines its two main theses: that there is an under-appreciated tradition of pragmatic genealogy which cuts across the analytic–continental divide, and that these genealogies are dynamic models serving to reverse-engineer the points of ideas in relation to generic and local needs. After sharpening key notions such as ‘genealogy’, ‘living by an idea’, and ‘conceptual practice’, the pragmatic genealogical tradition that forms the topic of the book is brought into view and contrasted with other genealogical traditions. It is shown how this particular method proves puzzling in various ways and resists assimilation to better-known methods. This motivates the search for an attractive systematic account of the method that can make sense of its more puzzling features. The last section of the chapter then offers a rationale for developing this systematic account by doing history of philosophy.