Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Językoznawstwo baner

No. 2/23 (2025)

Articles

Paraphrasing philosophical questions

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25312/j.9776  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2025-06-17

Abstract

This paper examines the philosophical significance of merely posing a question. Drawing on erotetic logic,
particularly the work of Anna Brożek (2008), the author analyzes the cognitive structure of questions, focusing
on their presuppositions and resolvability. The paper argues that well-formulated questions, especially hypothetical ones can meaningfully guide philosophical and scientific inquiry by shaping research agendas and clarifying conceptual gaps. Further, the process of logical therapy and paraphrasing can transform vague
or semantically flawed questions into resolvable ones or demonstrate their unresolvability, both of which
are philosophically valuable. Through the lens of thinkers such as Ajdukiewicz, Collingwood, and Agassi,
the paper shows that questioning is not only foundational to philosophical methodology but can itself constitute a substantive contribution. Ultimately, the paper supports the thesis that simply asking a question can be a valuable contribution to philosophy.

References

  1. Ajdukiewicz K. (1975), Logika pragmatyczna, Warszawa: PWN. [Google Scholar]
  2. Brożek A. (2008), O pojęciach rozstrzygalności i nierozstrzygalności w świetle teorii pytań, [in:] A. Brożek (ed.), Filozoficzne problemy nauk. Seminarium lwowsko-warszawskie, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, pp. 355–363. [Google Scholar]
  3. Brożek A. (2011), Theory of questions: erotetics through the prism of its philosophical background and practical applications, Warszawa: Rodopi. [Google Scholar]
  4. Brożek A., Jadacki J. (2006), Analiza »analizy«, „Studia Philosophiae Christianae”, no. 42/1, pp. 37–54. [Google Scholar]
  5. Gęgotek J. (2003), Metafizyczne presupozcyje pytań naukowych. Koncepcje Collingwooda i Agassiego, [in:] W. Krajewski, W. Strawiński (ed.), Odkrycie naukowe i inne zagadnienia współczesnej filozofii nauki. Pamięci Elżbiety Pietruskiej-Madej i Jana Żytkowa, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, pp. 189–196. [Google Scholar]
  6. Habgood-Coote J., Watson L., Whitcomb D. (2023a), Can a good philosophical contribution be made just by asking a question?, “Metaphilosophy”, no. 54, p. 54, doi.org/10.1111/meta.12599 [Google Scholar]
  7. Habgood-Coote J., Watson L., Whitcomb D. (2023b), Commentary on »Can a good philosophical contribution be made just by asking a question?«, “Metaphilosophy”, no. 54, pp. 55–60, doi.org/10.1111/meta.12600 [Google Scholar]
  8. Jadacki J. (2002), Spór o granice języka. Elementy semiotyki i metodologii, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper. [Google Scholar]
  9. Jadacki J. (2008), „Czy spory filozoficzne są rozstrzygalne?” [in:] A. Brożek (ed.), Filozoficzne problemy nauk. Seminarium lwowsko-warszawskie, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, p. 307. [Google Scholar]
  10. Jedynak A. (2008), Czy spory filozoficzne są rozstrzygalne? [in:] A. Brożek (ed.), Filozoficzne problemy nauk. Seminarium lwowsko-warszawskie, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, pp. 309–309. [Google Scholar]
  11. Puczyłowski T. (2022), A Taxonomy of Noncanonical Uses of Interrogatives, „Axiomathes”, no. 32 (3), pp. 505–527. [Google Scholar]
  12. Puczyłowski T., Ziembicki D. (2018), O implikaturach konwersacyjnych pytań, „Filozofia Nauki”, no. 26(1), pp. 23–48, doi.org/10.14394/filnau.2018.0002 [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.