Continuing through Simon Critchley’s book on Continental philosophy, the following analogy seems to capture some aspects of the contrast of Continental and analytic:
Continental is Catholic: conscious of tradition, respectful of saints, aware of historical contextualization. Philosophy is the history of philosophy.
Analytic is Protestant: deals with de-contextualized philosophical problems, forgetful of ancestry and saints, philosophical concerns drop from the sky. Philosophy is sharply distinguished from the history of philosophy.
This is just an analogy, but I’m suspicious this might also have some genealogical force.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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