Methodology

Spirit of the Method

The spirit of the method of sPhil is deep exegesis of a philosophical system in order to develop and expose a definitive and comprehensive account of its contents. This account is split along an axis that has two ends: on one extreme, is user-friendliness and making knowledge as welcoming and accessible as possible; the other extreme is technical depth and exhaustiveness, where knowledge often requires a highly specialized vocabulary and irregular syntax. Ideally, both of these poles would be achieved in concert but instead of compromising one for the other, we have decided to run with the intensity of each and let the reader be conduit of both. These two poles are called Guides and Reference, inspired by how software engineers build their technical documentation split between on-boarding of new users and the pure functionality of the system.

This does not, however, preclude overlap between the two poles and, indeed, some consideration is expected on the side of technical depth that the account should be readable, clear and well-structured just as on the side of introduction the matter should not be false or inaccurate.

Exegesis First

The focus of sPhil accounts, whether they are in the Guides or Reference section, is on rendering the contents of a philosophical system explicit. There usually exists a vibrant scholarship around a philosophical system, and we invite contributors to make use of those wherever it is helpful or relevant, but we strongly encourage contributors to explicate the philosophy to the best of their ability rather than deferring that labor to someone else. In other words, the matter at hand should be explicated with only the primary source(s) to the best of one’s ability before turning to second hand literature and scholarly disputations. This pattern is already widely used in Wikipedia, The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy and nLab, where a generic account is given first before turning to specifics and different interpretations, etc.

Non-neutral Standpoint

We do not claim to keep or offer a neutral or non-committal view on a matter. In the realm of pure thinking, such a position cannot really be sustained since it is essentially pretending not to think. We do, however, aim to keep a self-critical and argued stance, where textual evidence is provided for a certain judgment or, where such evidence is lacking or unclear, a reasoned theory, and overall avoid untethered opinions. In other words, sPhil will not pretend to hold a view from nowhere but hold the best view developed through collaborative effort.