What would be at stake in refusing the appellation “philosopher”? Why ought we be uneasy with the claims of “philosophy”? The most compelling reason would be to carve out a space for speculative thought that rejects enfoldment within the discourse that has historically laid a claim to the name “philosophy” – that is to say, the discourse that has appropriated for itself such proper names as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, and Kripke. Even if philosophy’s genealogical claim to ancient Greece were granted, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Platonic thought was only one of many schools with a stake in speculative thought. Moreover, from Plato through to Hegel, a case can be made that the greater weight of much of what has come to be identified as “philosophy” has been precisely anti-speculative – that is, absolutist, theological, and hierarchical.
A Secular Beginning
“The state of mind that is concerned with origins is theological. By contrast, beginnings are eminently secular activities.” (Edward Said)