In a famous remark, A. N. Whitehead said that the development of Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato.

In some fields of study, topics that were once controversies eventually become settled. I'm thinking of what happens generally in science, history, and law. That's not to say that all controversies are settled in these fields, but one way or another, they build up a body of consensus or precedent which is not continually rehashed, even if there is always a lively set of new controversies and unsettled questions.

So do you consider it a property of philosophical questions that they cannot be settled?

Does progress in philosophy consist in finding new questions that can't be settled or resolved?

Is there such a thing as progress in philosophy?

Some very good questions... Philosophy has progressed very slowly, but I think it has progressed. The empirical philosophers, especially Hume improved on the Rationalists,while Kant improved on Hume. Modern philosophy is largely footnotes to Hume and Kant. This is pretty sad really considering how long they have been dead.

Why hasn't there been another Hume, Kant or Plato? The answer I think is science. Philosophy now progress through discoveries and theories of physicists. The new philosophers are cosmologists who come up with ideas such as "String Theory" and "Super String Theory" This leaves a lot of people out in the cold because the mathematics is so complicated. But the mathematics is necessary in order to come up with the philosophy.


In this modern age I think philosophy has a place as an art form. In other words, it can provide us with answers on some of the most important questions such as,"How we can better relate to other people?" or "How can I be a better person?"