Philosophia Perennis
I believe that indeed, philosophical debate derives its structure largely from social context, this context situated in historical change (in terms of macro-social practices). Such change shapes thoroughly the genealogy of our philosophical ideas. However, we still have debates inherited from ancients, where nothing's really been resolved (perhaps most philosophical debates are like this). Eg, one can still take on Platonism or claim to follow Zhuangzi...hell, even Heraclitus. However, the development of philosophy also shapes social practices, and thus how history progresses. Eg, the propagation of types of Marxism shaped thoroughly the dynamics of the world political economy.
We should also remember that much of philosophy is socio-political, not just epistemology, ontology, and ethics.
ebola
Agreed. One might go so far as to discern a "Perennial Philosophy", from Thales, the pre-Socratics, Platonism and neo-Platonism, Stoicism, Scholastics, Enlightened thought (Newton, Leibniz) etc. One might turn to the oft-quoted Alfred North Whitehead, and his 'footnote to Platonism' comment. To this extent one might find 'deep philosophy' that is perennial whereby History explains the particular form of the dialectic, but wherein no 'Eureka'-events occur.
Though I try to avoid submitting counterfactual conditionals one is justified in exploring the 'history' in the History of Ideas. Clearly germ-line modification was never tackled by the Nicomachean Ethics.
If anything it is the scientific revolution that has had the greatest single impact on Western thought since the founding of The Academy or the Lyceum*. Parsing off natural philosophy from metaphysics, epistemology and ethics etc.
Despite the vainglorious proclivities of certain philosophers and their adherents they all 'stand on the shoulders of giants'.
Philosophy as dialogic could be said to be in some senses a-historical, introducing intertextuality to the entire Western canon. Historical circumstance might frame the debate, but when untangled is found to be a reformulation of the
Philosophia Perennis.
I think we live in a liminal and incohate age, wherein the next 50 years will bring about more change (environment/Human Nature) than has been experienced since the dawn of civilisation.. In this scenario the there will be new challenges for the philosophical discourse if it not to become obsolete. One will be confronted with new and unimagined ethical dilemmas, ontologies...where the more recent philosophies of mind, mathematics, science and religion will receive new impetus.
Enough rambling!
Historical circumstance frames the debate, or seeds new ideas, whilst the
Philosophia Perennis continues under new guises whilst retaining its essence.
FLORIAT P&S
*statement of opinion, not fact, as to my mind the Copernican revolution, the birth pangs of the
Catholica or the destruction of Paganism reified in the destruction of the Museion and Serapeum in Alexandria are each events of monumentous change in the History of ideas.