Through the Looking Glass

Judith Butler argues that professional philosophy has, in a kind of Hegelian dialectic, created its own mirror image by seeking to police its boundaries: There is much exciting theoretical work in other disciplines in the humanities and elsewhere, Butler says, that draws on philosophical traditions. As mainstream Anglo-American philosophy becomes increasingly rarified, this work outside of the boundaries of professional philosophy flourishes. Indeed, suggests Butler (2004), this work of the Other more properly captures the meaning of “philosophy.”