An
essay by Paul Graham on this very subject.
Quote:
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I would say that this has been, unfortunately for philosophy, the central fact of philosophy. Most philosophical debates are not merely afflicted by but driven by confusions over words. Do we have free will? Depends what you mean by "free." Do abstract ideas exist? Depends what you mean by "exist."
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The essay ends with hope. Philosophy is still an open field!
P.S. Bertrand Russell believed the same thing about the state of philosophy up to his time.