Pragmatism in Philosophical Inquiry: Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies PDF
Preview Pragmatism in Philosophical Inquiry: Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies
SPRINGER BRIEFS IN PHILOSOPHY Nicholas Rescher Pragmatism in Philosophical Inquiry Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies 123 SpringerBriefs in Philosophy More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/10082 Nicholas Rescher Pragmatism in Philosophical Inquiry Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies Nicholas Rescher Department of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh , PA , USA ISSN 2211-4548 ISSN 2211-4556 (electronic) SpringerBriefs in Philosophy ISBN 978-3-319-30902-6 ISBN 978-3-319-30903-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30903-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016934855 © The Author(s) 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. 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Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland Pref ace T he domain of purposive human endeavor covers a virtually endless extent. It ranges over a manifold of aims ranging from issues of a scope as small as fi nding a space for parking one’s car to those as large as achieving success in “the pursuit of happiness.” Pretty much everything we think or do in this world—individually or collectively—falls within the scope of a purposive endeavor. Within this larger setting, the cognitive enterprise seeks to consolidate our knowledge within a framework that is at once extensive in range and harmonious in structure. And the practical enterprise seeks to organize our actions within a frame- work that is adequate to the issues we face and effective in their management. It is the grounding insight of a fundamentally contextualistic pragmatism that the natural criterion of merit within any goal-oriented enterprise—be it practical or cognitive in nature—pivots on its contribution to the effective and effi cient realization of the aims at issue. Such a position is predicated on the conviction that productive effi - cacy within the appropriate context is seen to be a rational arbiter of merit in any region of purposive endeavor. The aim of the present book is to describe and explain this broadened conception of pragmatism as a far-reaching and many-sided approach to philosophical inquiry. Methodological considering apart, it seeks to offer a variety of case studies to illus- trate the range and fertility of this approach. In ranging across a wide variety of issues, these case studies substantiate the claims of contextual pragmatism to qual- ify as instructive and productive programs of philosophical investigation. All in all, then, the present discussion thus aims at showcasing one particular method of philosophical investigation not only by describing its mode of operation and explaining its legitimating rationale but also by substantiating its claims to effi - cacy in the course of a series of instructive case studies. The book accordingly takes a form that is somewhat unusual in philosophical exposition by substantiating a doctrinal position inductively by means of confi rmatory case studies. Pittsburgh, PA, USA Nicholas Rescher January 2016 v Contents 1 Functionally Contextual Pragmatism ..................................................... 1 The Pragmatic Tradition ............................................................................. 1 Some Historical Background ...................................................................... 3 Limits to Precision and Concept Pragmatism ............................................. 5 Some Pragmatists ........................................................................................ 6 The Author’s Position ................................................................................. 16 Pragmatic Success ....................................................................................... 19 Issues of Reception ..................................................................................... 22 Modes of Pragmatism ................................................................................. 24 Notes ........................................................................................................... 25 2 Pragmatism in Transition ......................................................................... 29 The Guiding Idea of the Pragmatic Program .............................................. 29 The Jamesean Version ................................................................................. 31 Later Developments .................................................................................... 32 Postmodern Pragmatism and Its Contrary .................................................. 32 A Return to the Peircean Roots ................................................................... 35 Three Traditional Objections to Pragmatism .............................................. 37 The Turn to Methodological Pragmatism ................................................... 39 Conclusion: Accentuating the Positive ....................................................... 42 Notes ........................................................................................................... 43 3 Pragmatic Procedure ................................................................................ 45 Realistic Pragmatism .................................................................................. 45 The Primacy of Cognition ........................................................................... 46 A Generalized Approach ............................................................................. 47 On Pragmatic Validation ............................................................................. 48 The Evolutionary Dimension ...................................................................... 50 An Objection ............................................................................................... 51 Pragmatism as Self-Substantiating ............................................................. 52 Notes ........................................................................................................... 55 vii viii Contents 4 Implementing Pragmatism ....................................................................... 57 Forming Ideas ............................................................................................. 57 The Idea Idea ........................................................................................... 57 Correct Description vs. Correct Conception ........................................... 58 The Aspect of Idealization ...................................................................... 59 The Atemporality of Ideas ...................................................................... 59 Category Mistakes................................................................................... 61 The Purposive Aspect: The Validation of Ideas ...................................... 61 Establishing Objectivity .............................................................................. 62 Introduction ............................................................................................. 62 From Subjectivity to Objectivity ............................................................. 63 Enter Practical Reasoning ....................................................................... 64 The Pragmatic Rationale of Objectivity.................................................. 65 Practical Reason and Requirement Satisfaction ..................................... 67 Making Guesses .......................................................................................... 67 Stage Setting ........................................................................................... 67 Quality Control ....................................................................................... 68 The Inductive Aspect .............................................................................. 69 Induction and Prediction as Truth-Estimation ........................................ 70 Some Good Advice ................................................................................. 72 Cognitive vs. Practical Reason ................................................................ 73 The Prospect of Hybrid Reasoning ......................................................... 73 Risking Error ........................................................................................... 74 Allocating Credit ......................................................................................... 75 Credit for Discovery ................................................................................ 75 Scientifi c Importance .............................................................................. 75 The Actual as Surrogate for the Ideal ..................................................... 77 Credit Allocation ..................................................................................... 78 Fruitfulness as the Pivot .......................................................................... 79 Ethics vs Realism .................................................................................... 82 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 82 Judging Actions ........................................................................................... 83 Unknotting Ethics ....................................................................................... 88 Offering Advice........................................................................................... 90 The Import of Advice .............................................................................. 90 Advice Does Not Command ................................................................... 92 Classifying Advice .................................................................................. 92 Responses to Advice ............................................................................... 94 Good Advice Must Be Principled ........................................................... 95 Inalienable Responsibility ....................................................................... 95 The Benefi cial Nature of Good Advice ................................................... 96 Meta-Advice ........................................................................................... 97 A Shakespearean Retrospect ................................................................... 97 Delegating Authority ................................................................................... 99 Why Authority? ....................................................................................... 99 Contents ix Information-Oriented vs. Action-Oriented Authority ............................. 99 Scientifi c Authority and Its Limits .......................................................... 101 The Validation for Acknowledging Authority ......................................... 101 Appraising Longevity ................................................................................. 103 The Problem ............................................................................................ 103 A Numerical Perspective ........................................................................ 104 The Pragmatic Dimension ....................................................................... 105 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 106 Improving Matters ...................................................................................... 107 Amelioration ........................................................................................... 107 Potential Impediments ............................................................................ 108 Free Will Issues ....................................................................................... 109 Imponderability ....................................................................................... 110 The Butterfl y Effect as a Substantive Obstacle to Tinkering .................. 111 The Package-Deal Predicament: The Teeter-Totter Effect ...................... 114 An Open Option: Nothing to Lose .......................................................... 115 A Practical Policy ................................................................................... 116 The Moral Dimension ............................................................................. 117 The Irony of Inevitable Success .............................................................. 118 Notes ........................................................................................................... 118 5 Pragmatism and Practical Rationality .................................................... 121 Functionalistic Pragmatism ......................................................................... 121 Evaluative Rationality and Appropriate Ends ............................................. 123 The Impetus of Interests .............................................................................. 127 Notes ........................................................................................................... 129 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 131 Basic Readings .................................................................................................. 131 Biographical Resources .................................................................................... 132 References ......................................................................................................... 133 Index ................................................................................................................. 135
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