The Continental and Analytic Divide

 

I have recently taken an interest in the huge chasm that separates Analytic and Continental philosophy, albeit the chasm seems to be narrowing. I am reading several books on the topic right now, and I not sure how many conclusions I have been able to draw yet. However, I still wanted to raise some questions in this post, along with one strong claim. And, perhaps, I will have some stronger claims in the future.

Rationalists versus Empiricists

The primary distinction that most people highlight between the Rationalists and the Empiricists revolves around the justification or foundation of knowledge. The Rationalists assert that knowledge is grounded in reason, and the Empiricists contend that knowledge is grounded in experience. Then, of course, Kant comes along and creates this hybrid view, which solves all sorts of disputes between the two previous groups. This picture is basically the one that I have heard for a long time.

One’s Psychological Aspect and Personal Identity.

Is psychology enough to preserve one’s personal identity? I have been reading through the different notions of personal identity, and I am not convinced the psychological view resolves the issue. The psychological view asserts that what secures a person’s identity over time is something within their mind, i.e. memories, consciousness, beliefs, etc. For example, the reason I am the same person as I was when I was ten is due to the fact that I remember the time when I was ten and certain events occurred.

The Principle of Charity and Gadamer’s View of Completeness

Hans Georg Gadamer describes the hindrance that prejudices make on our ability to interpret a text in his major work, Truth and Method. While I have a certain set of problems with his overall program and many of his conclusions, I do think he has some insight into the notion of charity (though I don’t think he ever uses that term). The principle of charity basically claims that we should interpret someone in a favorable light, i.e., we assume that they have some intelligence.