What is the Philosophical Attitude (Steve Wood, November 25, 2006)

An email from Steve Wood precedes this document:

hey everyone.
attached is a short short short one-pager with a couple of my thoughts on the philosophical attitude. actually, its more about the difference between and annotative and denotative definition but perhaps that will be helpful for some of you in sorting out your thoughts. let me know what you think and we can refine and refine the PA.
looking forward to reading what you guys think and getting cracking on some other philosophy-like writing!
i hope you all had a delightful weekend,
steve

What is the Philosophical Attitude?
Steve Wood
25 November 06

A Discourse on Method
As I began to break down my ideas on the Philosophical Attitude (PA), I realized that I needed to make a decision between two definitional tactics: the annotative definition and the denotative definition. I've chosen to lay out a denotative definition of the PA. But before I elaborate on the specifics of my definition, I am going to describe what I see to be the difference between the annotative and denotative definitions and why I've chosen the latter for this particular project.
An annotative definition is a concise phrase-form description of an idea which thematically unites (or hopes to unite) instances of the concept being defined. Dictionary definitions are annotative definitions.

My parents' Webster's New World Dictionary defines nonviolence as "an abstaining from violence or from the use of physical force, as in efforts to obtain civil rights or in opposing government policy." This is annotative; it expresses a definition in a phrase-form and it unites various instances of nonviolence-- hunger striking in political protest, self-sacrifice for the well-being of another, refusal to capitulate to the demands of an aggressor, et cetera--into a singular definition.

A denotative definition, on the other hand, is a definition which is itself an enumeration of instances of the concept. In the example given above, a denotative definition of nonviolence would consist of: hunger striking, self-sacrifice, refusal to capitulate, and others. A denotative has obvious limitations. In instances where the crucial instances of a concept are multifarious and wide-ranging, relying on a denotative definition is exceptionally cumbersome. However, there are clear benefits to a denotative definition. It is not as vulnerable to the process of over-abstraction that is necessary to frame myriad instances into a single unifying phrase-form. A denotative definition is not necessarily ever complete. A denotative list simply must be sufficient to convey the sense--or perhaps phenomenology--of a concept. An annotative definition seems to purport to be conclusive and decisive.

Defining the PA
In defining the PA, we ought to begin with a denotative definition for two reasons. First, it is difficult to unify instances of a concept in a single phrase-form if we cannot enumerate those instances to begin with. If we have difficulty jumping right into an annotative definition, we might be well off to start with a denotative one. Second, I think the lack of rigidity that accompanies a denotative definition is appropriate for the lack of rigidity that we seem to be trying to capture with our understanding of the PA. In fact, rigidity seems to even be antithetical to the PA. So, what is our denotative definition of the PA? I see the following as necessary characteristics for someone to posses if she also posses a PA:

1) Genuine and honest curiosity regarding the elucidation of truth

2) Willingness to co-operate with other philosophical traditions and methods to elucidate this truth

3) A cross-analytic capacity (CAC). The CAC enables one to draw meaningful parallels between to seemingly different approaches to a similar concept (or similar approaches to different concepts) in order to make progress towards elucidating truth. (See Backer 2005)

4) A desire to pursue truth not for self-aggrandizement and the quest for scholarly remittances, but out of general concern for organic personal satisfaction.

With all these constituent parts combined, I am the Philosophical Attitude!