Pragmatic Humanism Revisited: An Essay on Making the World a Home

112 Pages·2018·1.242 MB·English

by  Ana Honnacker

STUDIES IN HUMANISM
AND ATHEISM
Series Editors: Anthony B. Pinn
and Jürgen Manemann
PRAGMATIC
HUMANISM
REVISITED
An Essay on Making
the World a Home
Ana Honnacker
Studies in Humanism and Atheism
Series Editors
Anthony B. Pinn
Rice University
Houston, TX, USA
Jürgen Manemann
Universität Erfurt
Katholisch-theologische Fakultät
Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany
Although numerous scholars and activists have written academic and
popular texts meant to unpack and advocate for humanism and atheism
as life orientations, what is needed at this point is clear and consistent
attention to the various dimensions of humanist and atheists thought
and practice. This is the type of focused agenda that this book series
makes possible. Committed to discussions that include but extend well
beyond the United States, books in the series—meant for specialists and
a general readership—offer new approaches to and innovative discussions
of humanism and atheism that take into consideration the socio-cultural,
political, economic, and religious dynamics informing life in the twenty-
first century.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15125
Ana Honnacker
Pragmatic Humanism
Revisited
An Essay on Making the World a Home
Ana Honnacker
Research Institute for Philosophy Hannover
Hannover, Germany
Studies in Humanism and Atheism
ISBN 978-3-030-02440-6 ISBN 978-3-030-02441-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02441-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018959423
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A
cknowledgments
This book is about searching for a meaningful way of life. As a pragmatist
scholar, I believe that philosophy is able to contribute to this quest. However,
this kind of understanding of what philosophy can (and should) accomplish
cannot always be taken for granted within academic circles. This is why I
would like to express my great appreciation to the Forschungsinstitut für
Philosophie Hannover. Apart from being an excellent place for research, it
provided me with the opportunity to explore more practical philosophical
spaces. In this spirit, I would like to offer special thanks to Jürgen Manemann
for encouraging me to follow rather experimental roads.
The pragmatic tradition is the main resource of my philosophical work,
although I have been quite a late adopter. Therefore, I am particularly
grateful for the ongoing and thought-provoking conversations with Sami
Pihlström, Ulf Zackariasson, Magnus Schlette, and Matthias Jung. Their
critical remarks and supportive advice have been of great value in develop-
ing and refining my philosophical ideas in the field of pragmatism as well
as philosophy of religion.
Furthermore, I received invaluable impulses for thinking about science
and democracy from discussions at the meetings of the “Demokratie als
Denk- und Lebensform” research group at the FEST Heidelberg and at
the Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie Hannover over the course of the
past three years. This group gathered many of the finest pragmatic think-
ers, and initiated the German Pragmatism Network, promoting pragmatic
research in the German-speaking countries. During this process, I had the
chance to meet inspiring colleagues, and to benefit greatly from their work.
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is indebted to many colleagues and audiences. When the
Institute for Humanist Studies invited me to the Annual Symposium at
Rice University in 2016, I first began to elaborate my ideas on humanism
through a pragmatist lens. Early versions of the chapters of this book have
been presented at a variety of academic conferences and workshops as well
as public lectures. The feedback from various disciplines and perspectives
invited me to question my theses and, consequently, rearticulate and com-
plement them. Kim Joris Boström, Dominik Hammer, Greta Jasser,
Christof Kalb, Heidi Salaverría, Dennis Stammer, and Katrin Wille care-
fully read parts of the manuscript. Their comments were vital for clarifying
my thoughts and completing the manuscript.
Finally, the challenge of writing a book is not purely of intellectual
nature. It can only be met with a sympathetic environment. I am grateful
for being accompanied by the most supportive fellow human beings. Ian
Kaplow and Stefan Riepe kept me going and my spirit up in every sense—
thank you.
Hannover
August 2018
c
ontents
1 I ntroduction 1
Reference 6
2 Approaching Pragmatic Humanism 7
2.1 A Philosophy for Real Human Beings 7
2.2 The Radical Humanizing of Reality and Truth 10
2.3 Human Responsibility: The Meliorist Outlook 14
References 16
3 Human Inquiry and the Authority of Science 19
3.1 A Universal Path to Certainty? 19
3.2 From Naturalism to Scientism 20
3.3 Science as Human Activity 23
3.4 Pluralizing Science 31
References 35
4 E mancipatory Outlooks on Religion and Faith 37
4.1 K eeping the Door Open 37
4.2 F irst-Hand Versus Second-Hand Religion 39
4.3 N aturalizing Religion (But the Pragmatic Way) 40
4.4 Religious Truth Claims 44
4.5 R eligious Institutions and Theologies 46
4.6 Humanizing the Traditions 49
4.7 I s Pragmatic Humanism a Religion? 52
References 57
vii
viii CONTENTS
5 Experimental Action and Inclusion: The Ethics of
Pragmatic Humanism 59
5.1 Failing Better: A Negative Account of Ethics 59
5.2 Moral Pluralism Without Relativism 61
5.3 Challenging the Moral Order: Consensus Versus Conflict 66
5.4 Getting Rid of Evil? 69
5.5 The Therapeutical Turn of Moral Philosophy 74
References 77
6 T hinking About Last Things: Death, Finitude, and
Meaning 79
6.1 I s Death a Problem at All? 79
6.2 T he Quest for Immortality 81
6.3 M aking Sense in the Face of Finitude 88
6.4 B itter, but Sweet Enough 93
References 95
7 C onclusion: Living on Uncertainties—Pragmatic
Humanism as a Way of Life 97
References 101
Index 103
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Abstract Making this world a home is an existential and cooperative task.
A humanist re-reading of philosophical pragmatism suggests critical and
transformative perspectives on science, religion, and the way we live
together. Its pluralist outlook allows for an encompassing humanism that
bridges the gap between believers and non-believers. Moreover, it is a way
of life.
Keywords Atheism • Humanism • Pragmatism • Pluralism • William
James • F. C. S. Schiller
All of us have our own story of getting lost. When our existential coordi-
nates shift or even disappear, this is often accompanied by a troubling
feeling of disorientation. Maybe the plans we made for our life get crossed
and fail, perhaps by losing a job or after a family break-up. Yet it does not
even take a major incident to shake the certainties we relied on. Sometimes
we only realize after a slow and impalpable process of alienation that we
have slipped into existential homelessness. Then, we no longer identify
with the community we used to belong to, and seriously question the
practices and attitudes that shaped our life so far. When we arrive at this
point, we have to make the world our home anew. Though this task is
certainly a personal one, it also has a social dimension. First, because
human beings have always been confronted with it and we can choose
© The Author(s) 2018 1
A. Honnacker, Pragmatic Humanism Revisited,
Studies in Humanism and Atheism,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02441-3_1