What We Do When We Do Philosophy

In this paper, I present a reflective exercise on philosophical methodology. The aim of this exercise is to encourage people to think actively and reflectively on what they do when they do philosophy, and how they do it, both in terms of research practice and teaching practice. In addition to situating the motivation for the exercise in the broader tradition of philosophical methodology, I also report on an instance of this exercise that was undertaken at the Principia conference in Florianopolis, Brazil, in 2025, which I hope can be used as an exemplar for other people running similar exercises.