Abstract

This introductory chapter begins by suggesting how _philosophical anti-exceptionalism_—the view that good philosophical inquiry is continuous with good inquiry considered more broadly—can be fruitfully paired with _philosophical traditionalism_—the view that typical philosophical inquiry is a priori inquiry into essential natures. Indeed, it is claimed that a priori inquiry into essential natures can be largely accounted for by recognizing the existence of _pure rational thinking_. Pure rational thinking involves successfully following the constitutive rules of thought—rules that are _constitutive_ because following them grounds the capacity for having propositional attitudes. Pure rational thinking, if it exists, is not extravagant; neither, then, is any philosophical inquiry that pure rational thinking explains. The chapter ends by pointing out that acknowledging pure rational thinking is at odds with assigning a central epistemological role to intuitions.