Speculative Thinking: An Introduction

Abstract

Speculative thinking is back. This is anyhow the impression one gets from the titles of some recent publications and the labels of the philosophical trends that have emerged in the first decades of the twenty-first century. But what do we mean when we speak of speculative thinking or speculation today? What is the relationship between the classical uses of this term and those that are proposed today?In this introduction, we will (I) examine how the term ‘speculative’ has been employed in contemporary philosophy, especially in French and Anglophone discussions, (II) provide a short historical overview of the concept of ‘speculation’, (III) look at the way the term is used by Hegel, (IV) propose a couple of suggestions regarding the possibility of a speculative philosophy today, and (V) provide a brief outline of the topics presented in the essays that comprise this issue.