Analytic and Continental philosophers aren’t friendly with one another.

With depressingly few exceptions, they ignore one another’s work. They create parallel conferences, journals, publishing houses, and even philosophy departments at colleges. While we can find examples of philosophers who engage meaningfully across traditions, even many of those philosophers engage mostly to heap scorn on the other side.

Anyone who made it through grad school in philosophy knows all the stereotypes. Analytics are pedantic, black and white thinking logic choppers. Continentals are pretentious charlatans more interested in literary theory than in getting at core philosophical notions like reality and truth.

Recently I read Lee Braver’s book A Thing of This World, which makes an attempt at a fruitful intervention into this state of affairs. Having read it, I regret to say the book sat on my shelf for more than a decade before I picked it up.

It’s a great read.

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