Ontology and philosophical methodology in the early Susanne Langer

Kris McDaniel

pp. 265-298

in: Sandra Lapointe, Christopher Pincock (eds), Innovations in the history of analytical philosophy, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

I explore the connections between Susanne Langer's ontology and her account of the proper methodology of philosophy. Langer characterizes philosophy as the pursuit of meaning, and there are two distinctive ways to pursue meaning: analysis and construction. A study of her ontology—specifically her views about the nature of concepts, properties, and facts—sheds light on her views about analysis. Once we understand Langer's views on the ontology of these entities, we can also see why, for her, a uniform account of philosophical analysis can take each of these entities as possible subjects of analysis. Finally, understanding her ontology of concepts enables us to make sense of her view that philosophy has a constructive or synthetic task as well, namely the construction of concepts.

Cited authors

Langer Susanne