Western philosophy has often claimed for itself not just a distinct sphere of knowledge, but a distinct form of communication, set against ordinary speech. In Speaking Philosophically, Thomas Sutherland proposes that for some philosophers, authentic philosophizing demands a specific manner of speaking or writing, adoption of which enables one to gesture toward truths that propositional speech will never grasp. Drawing on a variety of thinkers - Heraclitus, Plato, Kant, Fichte, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Weil, Foucault, and Irigaray - Sutherland argues this emphasis on the form of philosophical communication can function as an exclusionary mechanism, determining who is deemed capable of speaking philosophically.

Thomas Sutherland is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Lincoln, UK.