Metaphilosophy

The philosophy of philosophy. It steps back to ask: What is the purpose, method, and scope of philosophy itself? Is its goal to discover objective truths, to clarify concepts, or to provide wisdom for living? How does it differ from science? Metaphilosophy is inherently self-referential—it’s philosophy doing its own homework, examining its tools and its right to exist before building another grand system.

Metaphilosophy Example: The debate between analytic philosophy (which views philosophy as conceptual analysis) and continental philosophy (which views it as cultural critique and existential inquiry) is a Metaphilosophical debate. It's not about a specific philosophical problem, but about what philosophy is and should be.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Scientific Metaphilosophy

The philosophical examination of the philosophy of science itself—stepping back to ask what philosophy of science is doing, what its methods are, how it changes over time, and what counts as progress within it. Metaphilosophy doesn't ask "what is science?" but "what are we doing when we ask what science is?" It's the discipline's self-reflection, its attempt to understand its own assumptions, its own ghosts, its own history. For those who find philosophy of science interesting, metaphilosophy is where you go when you find philosophy of science's assumptions interesting too.

"You're arguing about whether Kuhn was right about paradigms. But Scientific Metaphilosophy asks: why are we still using Kuhn's framework to have this argument? What does it mean that we organize philosophy of science around his categories? Who benefits from this way of thinking about thinking about science?"

by Abzugal February 23, 2026

Epistemological Metaphilosophy

The philosophical examination of epistemology itself—stepping back to ask what epistemology is doing, what its methods are, how it changes over time, and what counts as progress within it. Metaphilosophy doesn't ask "what is knowledge?" but "what are we doing when we ask what knowledge is?" It's the discipline's self-reflection, its attempt to understand its own assumptions, its own ghosts, its own history. For those who find epistemology interesting, metaphilosophy is where you go when you find epistemology's assumptions interesting too.

"You're arguing about whether knowledge requires certainty. But Epistemological Metaphilosophy asks: why are we still having this argument? What does it mean that Western epistemology has been asking the same questions for 2500 years? Is this progress or just obsession? Step back from knowing about knowing to knowing about knowing about knowing."

by Abzugal February 23, 2026