Abstract

This paper proposes an analysis of the relation between metaphilosophy and “first-order” philosophical inquiry based on pragmatism, specifically the holistic pragmatism developed by Morton White. It is argued that philosophy and metaphilosophy are mutually dependent and entangled and that it is, therefore, impossible to draw a sharp dichotomy between them. Rather, our metaphilosophical and “first-order” philosophical views and commitments constitute a holistic web that can only be critically examined as a totality.