Pragmatism (Philosophy)

Peirces Rhetorical Turn. Conceptualizing education as semiosis

by torill strand

Keywords:
Peirce;semeiosis;semiotics;phenomenology;pragmatism;learning;philosophy of education
more Keywords:
Peirce;semeiosis;semiotics;phenomenology;pragmatism;learning;philosophy of education

Abstract
The later works of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1913) offer an extended metaphor of mind and a rich conception of the dynamics of knowledge and learning. After a ‘rhetorical turn’ Peirce develops his early ‘semiotics’ into a more general theory of sign and sign use, while integrating his pragmatism, phenomenology, and semiotics. Therefore, in this article I bring Peirce's notion of semiosis—the sign's action—to the forefront. In doing so, I hope to disclose how Peirce's rhetorical turn not only opens up towards a richer conception of the dynamics of knowledge and learning, but also invites a shift of perspective from the psychological processes of learning to the semeiotic processes that characterizes the very dynamics of knowledge production.

PhD Proposal - The Power of the Disclosive and the Limits of Reason in Language

by Adam Kimberley

A potential research project of mine. Any comments and suggestions would be more than welcome.

The Most Talked-About Philosopher

by Anthony Gottlieb

Critical essay on the thought of Richard Rorty, a propos the publication of the first two volumes of his collected essays. Published in the New York Times on 2nd June, 1991

Religious Self-Reliance

by Randy Friedman

Pluralist (Spring 2012)

Self-reliance is too often read as a celebration by Emerson of the secular, self-reliant individual. My reading has... more Self-reliance is too often read as a celebration by Emerson of the secular, self-reliant individual. My reading has Emerson discovering a religiosity which does not depend on an adherence to a particular religious tradition or supernatural revelation. I call this religious self-reliance. Emerson, influenced by James Marsh and William Ellery Channing, rejects the theology which in part follows Locke’s empiricism and leaves the individual in need of spiritual guidance through traditional forms of divine Revelation. Instead, Emerson turns to Reason, identified as the moral or religious sentiment. The Over-soul which the moral sentiment uncovers represents the ultimate grounding of the self, and its revelation serves as the basis for religious self-reliance.

Traditions of Pragmatism and the Myth of the Emersonian Democrat

by Randy Friedman

Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 43, 1 (Winter 2007): 154 – 184.

Beginning with Emerson’s turn from his pulpit, many argue that American philosophy has rigorously held forth against... more Beginning with Emerson’s turn from his pulpit, many argue that American philosophy has rigorously held forth against supernaturalism and metaphysics. While most read self-reliance as a call for individualism, I argue that self-reliance is the application of the moral sentiment to the source of existence Emerson calls the Over-soul. Figures like George Kateb, Stanley Cavell, and Jeffrey Stout have presented a very different picture of American pragmatism. Stout, in particular, is responsible for building up what I call “the myth of the Emersonian democrat.” We find that a few philosophical positions generally constitute this myth. The Emersonian democrat is secular, sceptical, relativist, anti-realist, and anti-metaphysical. In
fact, on my reading of the strand of pragmatism running from Emerson through James to Dewey, the
pluralism of the Emersonian democrat depends on certain metaphysical commitments. The traditional
reading of Emerson as anti-religion, and by extension, anti-religious, impedes a better understanding of self-reliance and obfuscates some of the Emersonian inheritances in James and Dewey.

What is Absolute Truth? (in English) 2012

by François-Igor Pris

Comments and notes

This paper was inspired by criticism of pluralism and relativism about truth, offered by Pascal Engel in (Engel 2011).... more This paper was inspired by criticism of pluralism and relativism about truth, offered by Pascal Engel in (Engel 2011). We discuss the main points of his talk in terms of our understanding of the later Wittgenstein. We share the essence of Engel’s absolutist thesis about truth and give it our interpretation in terms of the notion of family resemblance.

Rekviem egy álomért - Recenzió - Richard Rorty: Filozófia és társadalmi remény (Requiem for a Dream - A review of the Hungarian Edition of Richard Rorty's Philosophy and Social Hope)

by Zoltán Boldizsár Simon

BUKSZ 20 (2008), 22-27.

The Fourth Estate in the USA and UK: Discourses of truth and power

by Jesse Hearns-Branaman

unpublished PhD thesis

This thesis examines the ways in which political journalists in the USA and UK talk about issues of truth and power as... more This thesis examines the ways in which political journalists in the USA and UK talk about issues of truth and power as it relates to journalism’s role as the Fourth Estate. The theoretical basis comes from a critique of the two major structures underpinning the Fourth Estate, that of epistemology (the study of truth) and ideology (broadly, the study of power and ideas). This involves unpacking and critically examining the ability of news media to convey ‘true’ information and the ideological formations in which the news media production practice is situated. The epistemological theories of Realism, Pragmatism, Antirealism and Hyperrealism will first be elucidated in an in-depth theoretical discussion, focusing on the contributions of Baudrillard. Four major theories of ideology, that of personal ideological bias, chaos, control, and ideology as fetishistic disavowal will be examined, this time focusing on the work of Žižek.
This theoretical discussion is complimented by an analysis of interview questions relating to epistemological concerns and to ideology. The empirical data consists of twenty interviews conducted with political correspondents in the USA and UK. A version of critical discourse analysis is used to examine the ways in which journalists talk about the issues raised by the questions, what is termed their ‘discursive strategies.’ The categories for analysis are grounded in the discursive strategies used by the journalists themselves, examined to elaborate not simply the explicit content, but the deeper implicit meanings inherent in the way they answer.
This provided both an original theoretical discussion and an original set of empirically-derived data. It also allows us to further understand the role of journalism as the Fourth Estate, the types of ‘truth’ it brings to us, the types of ideologies that underpin the news production process via news media professionals, and how the system is maintained despite its inherent contradictions.

Die Welt als Grund: Wittgenstein, Gadamer und James

by Núria Sara Miras Boronat

Vortrag, Sektion Philosophie des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts.
XXII Deutscher Kongress für Philosophie, LMU München, September 2011

A Reconstruction of Freedom in the Age of Neuroscience: A View from Neuropragmatism

by Tibor Solymosi

Contemporary Pragmatism, June 2011, 8:1, 153–171

I argue that classical pragmatism, with its emphasis on experimental method, has resurged explicitly in neopragmatism... more I argue that classical pragmatism, with its emphasis on experimental method, has resurged explicitly in neopragmatism and implicitly in neurophilosophy – both of which are impoverished because of their neglect of experimental method. Since philosophical work is already being done by neuro-enthusiasists, most of whom lack philosophical training, there is a growing tendency toward ‘neurobabble’ and fear of science. Neuropragmatism aims at critiquing both the emerging “neuro culture” and the promise of neuroscience for achieving our ideals. I use the case of free will as an introductory example of how this reconstruction can go about. Instead of asking whether neuroscience (or any science) tells us whether or not we have free will, we neuropragmatists ask “how does freedom work?”

William James’ Conception of Religion in Josiah Royce’s Mature Thought Three Approaches

by claudio viale

Review of David Hildebrand's *Dewey: A Beginner’s Guide* (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2008)

by Charlie Hobbs

published in *The Pluralist*, 2011

Processes and Particles: The Impact of Classical Pragmatism on Contemporary Metaphysics

by Teed Rockwell

published in philosophical topics vol. 36, no. 1, spring 200

This article shows that contemporary debates in Analytic Metaphysics would be radically changed by considering the... more This article shows that contemporary debates in Analytic Metaphysics would be radically changed by considering the process philosophy defended by James, Dewey and Peirce. They offer a serious alternative to Kim's claim that "bits of matter and their aggregates" are all that exist. Kim's reductionism is not the only form of physicalism, indeed physics is arguably better explained as implying the existence of a fundamental process, rather than a set of fundamental particles. The article concludes with a thought experiment that shows that reductionism is based on some highly questionable speculations, not scientific facts.

Rorty, Putnam, and the Pragmatist View of Epistemology and Metaphysics.

by Teed Rockwell

Published in Education and Culture: the Journal of the John Dewey Society (Spring 2003)

The pragmatists were caught between two different philosophical movements and were equally critical of both. On the... more The pragmatists were caught between two different philosophical movements and were equally critical of both. On the one hand, they were reacting against nineteenth century idealist philosophy, which often got hung up in metaphysical disputes that had no possibility of being resolved. But on the other hand, they were equally critical of the positivist’s belief that it was possible to not do metaphysics. Nineteenth century idealist philosophy is a dead horse in the twenty-first century, and thus the pragmatist’s arguments against it are of relatively little use today. But analytic philosophy has lived under the spell of positivism for over a half a century, and still has not figured out what should go in its place. Rorty captures this dilemma quite well when he refers to philosophers like Quine, Sellars and Davidson as “post-analytic philosophers”. The pragmatist alternative to positivism is an alternative which many of these post-analytic philosophers have been drifting towards. But as long as we assume that the pragmatist’s contributions to metaphysics and epistemology should be ignored, I believe that we will not be able to free ourselves from the last reverberations of the positivist hangover.

In this paper, I examine some of the modern debates between pragmatism and so-called “realism”, especially those between Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam. My claim is that many of these debates are based on misunderstandings of the pragmatist tradition. If we rely on Dewey’s original ideas, rather than Rorty’s reinterpretations of Dewey, these problems can be radically transformed, and in many cases dissolved.

Real Law in Peirce's 'Pragmaticism'(Or: How Scholastic Realism Met the Scientific Method)

by Cathy Legg

In “Causation and Laws of Nature”, special issue of Australasian Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, ed. Howard Sankey (Kluwer, 1999), pp. 125-142.

I only have this in hard copy, but if anyone would really like to read it - I could copy and send to you. It is a little old now, though.

Critiques of the Public-Private Distinction in Rorty's Political Thought

by Lior Erez

Draft

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reading of Rorty's notion of the private-public split - arguably... more The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reading of Rorty's notion of the private-public split - arguably the fundamental idea in his political writings in the last twenty years. My intention is not only to discuss Rorty's own writings on this issue, but also to provide an analytical discussion of the plethora of criticism this has received. Rorty was considered a provocative and controversial thinker even before his turn to political theory, but it is still surprising to see how widely his critics range: from radical poststructuralists and Marxists to feminists and conservatives, and not least his fellow pragmatists. I argue that most of these critiques can be shown to be answered from within Rorty's theory, while some of them, along with insights derived from his later writings, require a reformulation of Rorty's arguments.

A Can of Worms: Has Visual Communication a Position of Influence on Aesthetics of Interaction?

by Dave Wood

Harvard reference:
WOOD, D. (2011) A Can of Worms: Has Visual Communication a Position of Influence on Aesthetics of Interaction?. Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal. 5(3). pp463-476

Paper presented at:
Design Principles and Practices 2011, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. 2-4 February 2011.

Interaction Design is a young discipline that grew out of an overlap of other science and design disciplines, its... more Interaction Design is a young discipline that grew out of an overlap of other science and design disciplines, its remit was the design of interactive products, services and systems for human behaviour. Visual Communication and its output of graphic design once had an early influence on Interaction Design, but this has since been devalued by the influence from more functionalist disciplines, leading to two myths about Visual Communication: it just does the ‘aesthetic bit’ on the interface, and that aesthetics has no real use or function beyond ‘beauty’. But aesthetics cannot be reduced and measured as a functionalist equation of ‘means-end’. By understanding aesthetics from a Pragmatist philosophical position, the aesthetics of interaction can be explored from a situated and culturally connected embodiment of an interactive experience. From this position aesthetics is viewed as emergent from the interactive experience through three factors: a socio-cultural context, a personal embodiment and finally a means-to-many-ends instrumentality. It is a cultural phenomenon and not an engineering problem that can be explored quantifiably. This makes this a phenomenological study, and closer to Visual Communication. The rhetorical nature of Visual Communication affords a change in human behaviour, evoking a cognitive and emotional response, making its remit about framing decision-making from use of image and text. Experience, emotion, and interpretation can only use qualitative methods to explore an aesthetic experience. This raises a more vexing question: what other design disciplines also share or rather claim a phenomenological position on aesthetics? This paper will set out to explore these amorphous boundaries to decide if Visual Communication still has an actual support position of influence on Interaction Design.

Conflictos en la comunidad moral de Richard Rorty: Nosotros y ellos

by George Clarke

Este ensayo pretende discutir los problemas que existen en el pragmatismo ético de Richard Rorty. El antiesencialismo... more Este ensayo pretende discutir los problemas que existen en el pragmatismo ético de Richard Rorty. El antiesencialismo pragmatista hace imposible recurrir a la racionalidad tradicional como fundamento de una conducta moral amistosa entre distintas comunidades, así que para evitar apoyarse en dicha racionalidad moderna, Rorty propone abandonar la ley moral kantiana por una moral basada en sentimientos de familiaridad y cercanía propios de personas que pertenecen a la misma comunidad para alcanzar lo que llama un «acuerdo no forzoso» entre comunidades con puntos de vista distintos. Sin embargo, como veremos, dicha propuesta es más difícil de realizar de lo que parece sin retroceder a planteamientos racionales. Para ello utilizaremos el riguroso análisis del «otro» que formula Zygmunt Bauman para comprobar que considerar al otro como uno «de los nuestros» no es una tarea sencilla. Lamentablemente para el pragmatismo, encontraremos que no es posible extender nuestros afectos de simpatía natural hacia los «otros» sin recaer en argumentos racionales kantianos.

Building the Great Community: John Dewey and The Public Spaces of Social Democracy

by Daniel London

While largely ignored by contemporary geographers, the writings of Pragmatist philosopher John Dewey provide a... more While largely ignored by contemporary geographers, the writings of Pragmatist philosopher John Dewey provide a well-developed and useful conceptual framework for analyzing the way public spaces are built, experienced, and imagined. His radically anti-foundationalist and consequentialist approach to public-sphere formation, which contrasts with more essentialist Marxist and Liberal principles, deepens our understanding of what makes a space "public". Additionally, his experience-driven conceptions of knowledge and identity stress the importance of physical sites where communication over commonly held issues can lead to community-formation between disparate individuals. Following a reconstruction of Dewey's geographic imagination, this paper applies a Pragmatic analytical lens to particular public spaces and their users in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, examining how Dewey's insights can shed light on their political functions. It concludes by examining ways in which his insights can help resolve current debates on the scales and spaces of political mobilization.

Richard Rorty

by Peter Fosl

The Philosophers’ Magazine 39 (Fall 2007), 6-8.

On the occasion of his death. On the occasion of his death.