The Unity of the Brentano School

What, if anything, makes the unity and cohesion of the Brentano School? Is there a distinctive mark of what may be called the Brentanian philosophical orientation—or Brentanism for short? In this chapter, I argue that those questions are best answered in terms of metaphilosophical claims, claims about what philosophy is and how it should be best carried out—descriptive and normative claims. The proposal I wish to make, in sum, is the following: (i) all the members of the Brentano School share a specific conception of philosophy, and (ii) only they share this conception. To begin, I briefly contrast this approach with those seeking the criterion of Brentanism in doctrinal or merely methodological claims. I then identify a cluster of nine metaphilosophical and epistemological claims arguably endorsed by all the members of the school.