Philosophical method and science

Abstract

The paper deals with an issue of philosophical methodology, taking into account Wittgenstein’s critical remark that philosophy (metaphysics), in its modus operandi, imitates science. The thesis of the paper is that such approach is wrong because the peculiarity of philosophical thinking cannot be adequately conceptualized in terms of formal logic. This is shown by the analysis of three cases (Plato, Aristotle and Descartes), i. e. three classical metaphysical projects dedicated to the discovery of “the first principles”.