ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY: THE FORMATION OF THE CONCEPT, THE BASIC PRINCIPLES, AND THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE METHOD

Abstract

This study aims to provide a systematic analytic examination of analytic philosophy by tracing the formation of its concept, identifying its foundational principles, and analyzing the methodological transformations it has undergone across its historical development. The study addresses a central problem arising from the persistent ambiguity surrounding the concept of analytic philosophy and the plurality of its definitions, which has led to recurrent conflations between analytic philosophy as a philosophical direction and some of its historical strands or partial extensions. This situation calls for an analytic treatment capable of clarifying the concept and uncovering its methodological structure.

The study adopts the analytic philosophical method, grounded in conceptual analysis, examination of the logical and linguistic structure of arguments, and the historical tracing of methodological transformations. The analysis demonstrates that analytic philosophy did not emerge as a unified philosophical doctrine, but rather gradually took shape as a methodological philosophical project, closely associated with critiques of idealist philosophies and with decisive developments in logic and the philosophy of language. This project was shaped through the contributions of major figures, most notably Frege, Moore, Russell, and Wittgenstein.

The study further identifies a set of foundational principles that constitute the common core of the diverse strands of analytic philosophy, including conceptual analysis, logical rigor, the centrality of language, the rejection of unregulated metaphysical obscurity, and the conception of philosophy as an activity rather than a doctrinal system. It also shows that the methodological transformations of analytic philosophy—from the logical analysis of ideal language to the analysis of ordinary language and subsequently to more diverse contemporary approaches—represent transformations within a single analytic framework rather than breaks from its foundational principles.

The study concludes that analytic philosophy should be understood as a philosophically resilient and methodologically flexible project whose continuity lies in its analytic orientation, and that such an understanding provides a clearer and more accurate account of its nature and role in contemporary philosophical thought.