Inside False Wisdom: Postscript

A Concluding Metaphilosophical Postscript

It is not enough to know, we must also apply; it is not enough to will, we must also do.

Johannes Goethe, Maxim #324

---

For centuries (indeed for millennia) philosophers have complained about pseudo-philosophy being practiced by others claiming to be philosophers — and about people being taken in and suffering in one way or another from the mimicry, exploitation, and fakery of the pseudo-philosophers. But no attempt at a careful, comprehensive, and useful characterization of pseudo-philosophy has emerged. I suspect this is because most philosophers simply don’t see pseudo-philosophy as presenting a philosophical problem or a philosophically interesting target for thought and investigation. Pseudo-philosophy, after all, is not philosophy.

Inside False Wisdom: Preface

Preface

This book is a comprehensive historical, theoretical, and practical treatment of pseudo-philosophy — a concept often encountered in both formal and popular philosophy, but rarely with any degree of seriousness and precision. It presents a theory of pseudo-philosophy through the use of models of the genuine philosopher and pseudo-philosopher, and then applies that theory to specific real-world cases.