Pragmatism

The term pragmatism (from Greek πρᾶγμα pragma " action ", " thing "), colloquially referred to a behavior or actions that depend on known underlying conditions. Pragmatic action is not tied to unchanging principles.

In philosophy, so that is a mindset called, which creates in America by Charles S. Peirce and William James and was mainly continued in the connection of John Dewey and George Herbert Mead. The ideas of Dewey and Mead also form the basis for the Chicago School of Sociology. According to the pragmatism are the practical consequences and effects of a life- worldly act or a natural event, determine the meaning of a thought. It is the human knowledge for the pragmatists principle fallible ( fallibilism ). Accordingly, the truth of a statement or opinion ( belief ) due to the expected or possible outcome of an action is determined. The human practice as a foundation and theoretical philosophy (ie especially the epistemology and ontology) understood, as it is assumed that also the theoretical knowledge to practical dealing with things rises and remains dependent on this. In the philosophical thoughts exist between the positions of the different pragmatists significant differences that saw the similarities rather in the pragmatic method as in a unified theoretical structure.

Many fundamental concepts of systematic philosophy were interpreted this pragmatic conception according to new, including the concept of truth; the research program of pragmatism has been applied to various problem contexts and practical contexts, including the theory of democracy, the education or religion. After the pragmatism was less influential in the early decades of the 20th century, understood since the 1970s, some philosophers decidedly in the tradition of classical American pragmatism, including Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam and Robert Brandom, and with a stronger relation to Peirce Nicholas Rescher and Susan Haack. In the social sciences Hans Joas is considered a prominent representative of the neo-pragmatism.

Introduced the term " pragmatism " in 1898 in a lecture by William James, Charles Sanders Peirce explicitly but it led as the founder of this philosophy and this pointed to its publications from 1878. Since the doctrine of pragmatism has been pointed out by several other authors in their own way, which is not consistent with the original conception, Peirce later called his own teaching pragmatisism. Peirce wanted to draw attention to the importance of the principle of science as a closed system and the consequent role of terminology. He expressly rejected the " loose scribe " who used his ideas outside of his theoretical concept.

  • 3.1 Max Scheler
  • 3.2 Max Horkheimer
  • 3.3 Current pragmatism
  • 3.4 pragmatics in German legal philosophy

Development

Classic ( Anglo-Saxon ) pragmatism

According to the pragmatist views, all judgments, opinions, ideas, concepts relate, inter alia, in each case acting people. The pragmatism of Peirce was primarily aimed to develop a theory of meaning. As a central maxim may apply Peirce's requirement to assess performances of all kinds in terms of their possible practical effects. This requirement is aimed primarily at an epistemological fundamentalism and its assertion by intuition or introspection are immediate insights possible. Likewise, Peirce rejects a rationalist ultimate justification that relies on the self-certainty of the ego, and the empiricist view that knowledge alone entstamme of sensory perception. Rather, everything Detected always lies in the consciousness before symbolically and can therefore be misinterpreted.

As a method of increasing knowledge suggests Peirce before, only the one to accept as knowledge that is intersubjectively verifiable by experiment or has been verified. This is accompanied by the requirement to formulate all the knowledge so that it is immediately clear what we need to do to check this or that statement. Peirce continues to believe that a research community gradually takes over the story by constant cross-checking their results to a better knowledge of the world.

Peirce represented therefore a " convergence theory of truth" that in the future in a correspondence of what is thought opens in a fictitious infinitely distant point in time with reality. Until then, all knowledge is fallible. For Peirce, although the intersubjectivity was a precondition of the truth. The connection is often made ​​by Peirce with a consensus theory of truth is here but not seen.

This concept of truth was moved by William James in the direction of relevance to human action. Due to various misunderstandings, which moved its truth conception in the vicinity of utilitarianism, which it shall draw up a separate essay. James accepted as a basis, the correspondence theory of truth:

Such a definition was not enough of it. In particular, for him as a pragmatist, the idea of an image of reality not sufficient. Truth as a theoretical construct has no practical relevance. He was interested in the question of what it means that an idea or an opinion is true,

Whether something is true, shows up for James only in practice. Truth is an event in which prove their ideas in practice. True knowledge is then especially that which corresponds to the satisfaction of action intentions. In this form of pragmatism became known to a wider public, which has resulted mainly in Europe to wider rejection because of pragmatism was equated with a pure theory of utility.

More CONTINUED at the early pragmatism currents are going back to Dewey instrumentalism that own rather skeptical position of FCS Schiller, who called this humanism itself, of Bridgman's operationalism, as well as the behaviorist psychology, which also rejects introspective methods and focuses solely on the observable behavior of their objects of investigation. In particular, Dewey has made important contributions to practical philosophy, especially the theory of education and democracy theory. Charles W. Morris, a student of GH Mead, has developed according to Peirce own theory of semiotics.

Neo-pragmatism

New impetus was given the pragmatism by Willard Van Orman Quine, which connects it to do with the holism and Duhem's instrumentalism. Duhem was assumed that all theories represent wholes, that is, their individual rates are always based on an overall concept, from which they can not be removed without loss of meaning. This in turn makes all experimental verifications themselves theory-laden again, so provide no knowledge, that would be entirely independent of the preceding views of the experimenter - the result of an experiment must indeed be interpreted. Quine therefore comes to the conclusion that concepts can not be verified simply by experimentation, because their meaning can only be understood in the general context of the theory. This theory is but one supported by a research community opinion, which goes back to their conventions.

Common to the subsequent neo-pragmatist theories that they are based on a dynamic theory of knowledge, the firm makes the origin of knowledge especially on the method of trial and error ( trial and error ).

Overall view

As with other philosophical currents of some basic similarities in the views, when looking at the details in part will become apparent to the individual items, however, considerable differences. Thus Peirce and Royce represented idealistic positions, while James, Schiller and Dewey are classified as empiricists. Quine took a strong analytical and skeptical at the same time position while Rorty is mainly associated with a relativistic attitude. Putnam, in turn, represents a philosophy closer to Peirce and James, but at the same time has a significant weight in the discussion on modern philosophy of mind.

Pragmatism and reception in Germany

In German philosophy Kant has written an anthropology in pragmatic ways. It separates, while the practical Shall the Pragmatic, the supplied hear being. The moral imperative is a question of pure practical reason; the pragmatic imperative, however, fall within the scope of the empirical doctrine of nature ( cf. MdS, A 12).

As the Anglo-Saxon pragmatism Germany reached, the word " pragmatism " was in common parlance often used synonymously for " Praktikalismus " or " Tagwursterei ", which rubbed off on the reception of the philosophical current, and these pre-loaded. In Germany, he was especially known in the first represented by James form, believe through the translation of the essay collection The Will ( The Will to Believe, dt 1899), followed in 1906 translations of his Pragmatismusvorlesungen. 1911 published F. CS Schiller's humanism - essays.

German orientation

Max Scheler

As the most important recipient of this time is Max Scheler, the reaction in his "knowledge and work. A study on the value and limits of pragmatic motif in the knowledge of the world " held. His work "The forms of knowledge society " from 1926 is still under this influence. Scheler distinguishes three forms of knowledge there

  • Working knowledge than the knowledge to practical and technical mastery of the world
  • Formation of knowledge which serves the development of the personality, and
  • Salvation knowledge as " participation in the Highest".

Agreeing to Scheler expressed on pragmatism as a philosophical elucidation of the work knowing if this is the theoretical statements and hypotheses of science in a proper context with the acting world reference. However, have the pragmatism, as Scheler, made ​​the mistake of honor this knowledge as the only correct one.

Max Horkheimer

In a similar form Max Horkheimer criticized the reduction of all knowledge to purpose -rational action, which no longer questioned his own objective. In his "Critique of instrumental reason " of 1944, he takes a position, especially against James and Dewey. The fallacy lies for Horkheimer is that the method of the natural sciences was transferred solely for the sake of the success of these sciences to the entire philosophy. Horkheimer also establishes a connection between pragmatism and capitalist- benefit-oriented economy. In this sense, Marxist authors such as Ernst Bloch, Adam Schaff and Georg Klaus interpreted the pragmatism as an expression of the interest of the American capitalist class.

Current pragmatism

Currently, the German basic pragmatic approach is mainly associated with the concepts of the life-world, the consensus theory and the coherence theory.

As a contemporary German representatives pragmatic approaches are, among others, Hans Joas and Nida Rümelin: "In the end all Begründens practiced form of life stands as a whole".

Pragmatics in German legal philosophy

Dietmar von der Pfordten stresses for legal ethics, the "pragmatic relationship between law and morality." Norbert Horn refers in his legal philosophy of religion with one and looks for the people three types of orientation, " the life of reason, science and religion" ..

The three-world theory in social and legal philosophy, representing Axel Montenbruck, understands the pragmatic than a third (human ) world that combines the worlds of obligation and of being. "Even the vital need for pragmatic, but only artificial synthesis of being and ought describes the basic dilemma of the secular people."

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