Novel thinking

n western philosophy, as in western art, originality is highly valued. Within the academic world, it is a stated prerequisite for a doctoral thesis in philosophy that it should make an original contribution, not simply reproduce what others have already said. Any philosophy PhD will build on what has gone before, but a thesis that contained nothing novel wouldn’t pass the . The originality requirement here doesn’t necessarily mean startling innovation – it can be met by giving a new way of synthesising older thoughts, or a new interpretation of, or critical attack on, another philosopher’s thought. To make a mark in the long history of