Editing Philosophical methodology (section)

== Definition ==
The term "philosophical methodology" refers either to the methods used to philosophize or to the branch of [[metaphilosophy]] studying these methods.<ref>{{cite web |title=methodology |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=methodology |website=The American Heritage Dictionary |publisher=HarperCollins |access-date=20 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="McKeon"/><ref name="MeinerMethode">{{cite book |editor1-last=Sandkühler |editor1-first=Hans Jörg |title=Enzyklopädie Philosophie |date=2010 |publisher=Meiner |url=https://meiner.de/enzyklopadie-philosophie-14071.html |chapter=Methode/Methodologie}}</ref><ref name="OvergaardMethodology"/> A method is a way of doing things, such as a set of [[Action (philosophy)|actions]] or [[Decision theory|decisions]], in order to achieve a certain goal, when used under the right conditions.<ref name="MeinerMethode"/> In the context of inquiry, a method is a way of conducting one's research and theorizing, like inductive or axiomatic methods in logic or experimental methods in the sciences.<ref name="McKeon">{{cite book |last1=McKeon |first1=R. |title=New Catholic Encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/methodology-philosophy |chapter=Methodology (Philosophy)}}</ref> Philosophical methodology studies the methods of philosophy. It is not primarily concerned with whether a philosophical position, such as [[Mind–body dualism|metaphysical dualism]] or [[utilitarianism]], is true or false. Instead, it asks how one can determine which position should be adopted.<ref name="Dever">{{cite book |last1=Dever |first1=Josh |editor1-first=Herman |editor1-last=Cappelen |editor2-first=Tamar Szabó |editor2-last=Gendler |editor3-first=John |editor3-last=Hawthorne |chapter=What is Philosophical Methodology? |title=The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology |date=19 May 2016 |pages=3–24 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199668779.013.34 |isbn=978-0-19-966877-9 |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199668779.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199668779-e-34 |language=en}}</ref>

In the widest sense, any principle for choosing between competing theories may be considered as part of the methodology of philosophy. In this sense, the philosophical methodology is "the general study of criteria for theory selection". For example, [[Occam’s Razor]] is a methodological principle of theory selection favoring simple over complex theories.<ref name="Dever"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Occam's razor |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Occams-razor |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=27 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MacmillanPhilosophy"/> A closely related aspect of philosophical methodology concerns the question of which conventions one needs to adopt necessarily to succeed at theory making.<ref name="Dever"/> But in a more narrow sense, only guidelines that help philosophers learn about facts studied by philosophy qualify as philosophical methods. This is the more common sense, which applies to most of the methods listed in this article. In this sense, philosophical methodology is closely related to [[epistemology]] in that it consists in epistemological methods that enable philosophers to arrive at [[knowledge]].<ref name="Dever"/><ref name="Będkowski">{{cite book |last1=Będkowski |first1=Marcin |last2=Traczykowski |first2=Dominik |title=Formal and Informal Methods in Philosophy |date=2020 |publisher=Boston |isbn=978-90-04-42049-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u80jyQEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Because of this, the problem of the methods of philosophy is central to how philosophical claims are to be [[Justification (epistemology)|justified]].<ref name="DalyIntroduction"/>

An important difference in philosophical methodology concerns the distinction between descriptive and [[normative]] questions. Descriptive questions ask what methods philosophers ''actually use or used'' in the past, while normative questions ask what methods they ''should use''.<ref name="OvergaardMethodology"/><ref name="DalyIntroduction"/> The normative aspect of philosophical methodology expresses the idea that there is a difference between good and bad philosophy. In this sense, philosophical methods either articulate the standards of evaluation themselves or the practices that ensure that these standards are met.<ref name="DalyHandbook"/><ref name="VeryShortIntro"/> Philosophical methods can be understood as tools that help the theorist do ''good'' philosophy and arrive at knowledge.<ref name="Dever"/> The normative question of philosophical methodology is quite controversial since different [[schools of philosophy]] often have very different views on what constitutes good philosophy and how to achieve it.<ref name="OvergaardPhilosophy">{{cite book |last1=Overgaard |first1=Søren |last2=Gilbert |first2=Paul |last3=Burwood |first3=Stephen |title=An Introduction to Metaphilosophy |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-19341-2 |pages=17–44 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/an-introduction-to-metaphilosophy/what-is-philosophy/9D6F6F1186D1FF68A23B97B17CC810EE |chapter=What is philosophy?}}</ref><ref name="Cappelen"/>