Oiling the Wheels of the Philosophy Machine

Abstract ‘Philosophy’, like ‘art’, denotes both an activity and the product of the activity, each of which has value in its own right. I start with the idea that the main role of professional philosophers, qua researchers, is to contribute to the production of the product—philosophical works that are in the public domain—and argue that neither our own doxastic states nor their justificatory status is important when it comes to our ability to fulfil that role. In particular, assertion in philosophical contexts is not governed by a norm that requires us to be in any particular doxastic state with respect to the asserted content.