Distinguishing research from non-research

Résumé

This article sustainsthat the notion of research is more widespread than the notion of scientific research. Scientific research means trying to capture new true propositions-no matter what robust or minimalist or eliminativist definition one wants to give to the notions of “true” and “false”.I show the characteristics of scientific explanation discussing Hempel and Lakatos conceptualizations among others. After I claim that philosophical research exists and that it can be defined in a way that is precise enough to allow us to subdivide philosophical practices and works into examples of philosophical research and examples of non-philosophical research.I conclude that pages written by philosophers are not philosophical research if they do not make distinctions between their own levels of discourse, and if they claim things which are not falsifiable or, more generally, things such that it is impossible to conceive in what way the best arguments in their favour may become weak or faulty or insufficient.