The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2017 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) |
Texto Completo: | https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239 |
Resumo: | This paper sets forth three main claims. First, in light of an interpretation of Empedocles’s pluralistic account of nature (as consisting of the four eternal material or root elements of fire, air, earth and water and the two eternal forces of love and strife), I move beyond a longstanding scholarly dispute (between some commentators who interpret Empedocles as holding that there is an endlessly recurring two-part cosmic cycle and others who hold Empedocles as claiming that there is a single positive movement from cosmic separation and manyness to unity and oneness) to the view that love and strife are an integrated cosmic force that constitutes a permanence of change. It is this view that allows Empedocles to embrace the Parmenidean commitment to the permanence of being (and the impossibility of its passing into non-being) and also to affirm the reality (rather than mere appearance) of the many changes evident in our experience. (And it is this view that the Strasbourg papyrus supports.) Second, I am concerned to establish parallels between this metaphysics of forces and the pragmatism of John Dewey, who held that nature is a mix of the precarious and the stable. The point here is not that Dewey and Empedocles hold the same views; they are separated by radically different accounts in biology, physics, psychology, and morality. The point, rather, is that both set forth metaphysical accounts that are at once pluralistic and centrally attuned to change, process, force, and activity. And it is that Dewey heeded Empedocles’s warning not to boast one knows the general nature of things. Third, I want to explain how Dewey’s view might be seen as a development of the philosophy of Empedocles—a development in which the notion of process or force or activity is reconstructed without any teleology and in which the notion of root elements is understood functionally rather than ontologically. I take this to be a movement within the development of metaphysical pluralism from being to becoming—a movement in which an Empedoclean focus on force may prefigure pragmatism and, thus, a way of viewing Empedocles as not merely pre-Socratic but also pre-pragmatic. |
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The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of forceA permanência da mudança: Empédocles, Dewey e dois tipos de metafísicas pluralistas de forçaJohn DeweyPragmatismMetaphysicsForceEmpedoclesPermanenceChangePluralismPragmatismoForçaEmpédoclesPermanênciaMudançaPluralismoThis paper sets forth three main claims. First, in light of an interpretation of Empedocles’s pluralistic account of nature (as consisting of the four eternal material or root elements of fire, air, earth and water and the two eternal forces of love and strife), I move beyond a longstanding scholarly dispute (between some commentators who interpret Empedocles as holding that there is an endlessly recurring two-part cosmic cycle and others who hold Empedocles as claiming that there is a single positive movement from cosmic separation and manyness to unity and oneness) to the view that love and strife are an integrated cosmic force that constitutes a permanence of change. It is this view that allows Empedocles to embrace the Parmenidean commitment to the permanence of being (and the impossibility of its passing into non-being) and also to affirm the reality (rather than mere appearance) of the many changes evident in our experience. (And it is this view that the Strasbourg papyrus supports.) Second, I am concerned to establish parallels between this metaphysics of forces and the pragmatism of John Dewey, who held that nature is a mix of the precarious and the stable. The point here is not that Dewey and Empedocles hold the same views; they are separated by radically different accounts in biology, physics, psychology, and morality. The point, rather, is that both set forth metaphysical accounts that are at once pluralistic and centrally attuned to change, process, force, and activity. And it is that Dewey heeded Empedocles’s warning not to boast one knows the general nature of things. Third, I want to explain how Dewey’s view might be seen as a development of the philosophy of Empedocles—a development in which the notion of process or force or activity is reconstructed without any teleology and in which the notion of root elements is understood functionally rather than ontologically. I take this to be a movement within the development of metaphysical pluralism from being to becoming—a movement in which an Empedoclean focus on force may prefigure pragmatism and, thus, a way of viewing Empedocles as not merely pre-Socratic but also pre-pragmatic.Este artigo apresenta três argumentos principais. Primeiro, à luz de uma interpretação da concepção pluralista da natureza de Empédocles (como consistindo dos quatro elementos materiais ou de raiz, do fogo, ar, terra e água, e as duas forças eternas de amor e conflito), vou além de uma disputa acadêmica de longa data (entre alguns comentaristas que interpretam Empédocles como defensor de um infindo e recorrente ciclo cósmico de duas vertentes, e outros que argumentam que Empédocles afirma que existe um único movimento positivo de separação cósmica e multiplicidade para unidade e unicidade) para a visão que amor e conflito são uma força cósmica integrada que constitui uma permanência da mudança. É esta visão que leva Empédocles a assumir o compromisso parmenidiano com a permanência do ser (e a impossibilidade de sua transformação em o não-ser) como também afirmar a realidade (ao invés da mera aparência) das muitas mudanças evidentes em nossa experiência. (E é essa visão que o papiro de Estrasburgo apóia). Segundo, preocupo-me em estabelecer paralelos entre essa metafísica de forças e o pragmatismo de John Dewey, que argumentava que a natureza era um misto do precário e do estável. A questão aqui não é que Dewey e Empédocles tenham a mesma visão: eles divergem em explicações radicalmente diferentes em biologia, física, psicologia e moralidade. A questão, ao invés, é que ambos apresentaram explicações metafísicas tanto pluralistas quanto centralmente afinadas à mudança, processo, força e atividade. E é que Dewey acatou o alerta de Empédocles de não se vangloriar de saber a natura geral das coisas. Terceiro, gostaria de explicar como a visão de Dewey pode ser considerada como um desenvolvimento da filosofia de Empédocles – um desenvolvimento onde a noção de processo ou força ou atividade é reconstruída sem qualquer teleologia, e no qual a noção de elementos de raiz é entendida mais funcionalmente do que ontologicamente. Considero isso um movimento dentro do desenvolvimento do pluralismo metafísico de ser para se tornar – um movimento onde o foco Empedocliano na força pode prefigurar o pragmatismo e, assim, um modo de considerar Empédocles não como simplesmente pré-socrático, mas também pré-pragmático.Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo2017-02-04info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; Vol. 17 No. 2 (2016); 349-362Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; v. 17 n. 2 (2016); 349-3622316-52781518-7187reponame:Cognitio (São Paulo. Online)instname:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)instacron:PUC_SPenghttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239/22065Copyright (c) 2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessStuhr, John J.2017-02-04T19:39:25Zoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/31239Revistahttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofiaPRIhttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/oairevcognitio@gmail.com2316-52781518-7187opendoar:2017-02-04T19:39:25Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force A permanência da mudança: Empédocles, Dewey e dois tipos de metafísicas pluralistas de força |
title |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
spellingShingle |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force Stuhr, John J. John Dewey Pragmatism Metaphysics Force Empedocles Permanence Change Pluralism Pragmatismo Força Empédocles Permanência Mudança Pluralismo |
title_short |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
title_full |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
title_fullStr |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
title_full_unstemmed |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
title_sort |
The permanence of change: Empedocles, Dewey, and two kinds of pluralist metaphysics of force |
author |
Stuhr, John J. |
author_facet |
Stuhr, John J. |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Stuhr, John J. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
John Dewey Pragmatism Metaphysics Force Empedocles Permanence Change Pluralism Pragmatismo Força Empédocles Permanência Mudança Pluralismo |
topic |
John Dewey Pragmatism Metaphysics Force Empedocles Permanence Change Pluralism Pragmatismo Força Empédocles Permanência Mudança Pluralismo |
description |
This paper sets forth three main claims. First, in light of an interpretation of Empedocles’s pluralistic account of nature (as consisting of the four eternal material or root elements of fire, air, earth and water and the two eternal forces of love and strife), I move beyond a longstanding scholarly dispute (between some commentators who interpret Empedocles as holding that there is an endlessly recurring two-part cosmic cycle and others who hold Empedocles as claiming that there is a single positive movement from cosmic separation and manyness to unity and oneness) to the view that love and strife are an integrated cosmic force that constitutes a permanence of change. It is this view that allows Empedocles to embrace the Parmenidean commitment to the permanence of being (and the impossibility of its passing into non-being) and also to affirm the reality (rather than mere appearance) of the many changes evident in our experience. (And it is this view that the Strasbourg papyrus supports.) Second, I am concerned to establish parallels between this metaphysics of forces and the pragmatism of John Dewey, who held that nature is a mix of the precarious and the stable. The point here is not that Dewey and Empedocles hold the same views; they are separated by radically different accounts in biology, physics, psychology, and morality. The point, rather, is that both set forth metaphysical accounts that are at once pluralistic and centrally attuned to change, process, force, and activity. And it is that Dewey heeded Empedocles’s warning not to boast one knows the general nature of things. Third, I want to explain how Dewey’s view might be seen as a development of the philosophy of Empedocles—a development in which the notion of process or force or activity is reconstructed without any teleology and in which the notion of root elements is understood functionally rather than ontologically. I take this to be a movement within the development of metaphysical pluralism from being to becoming—a movement in which an Empedoclean focus on force may prefigure pragmatism and, thus, a way of viewing Empedocles as not merely pre-Socratic but also pre-pragmatic. |
publishDate |
2017 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2017-02-04 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239 |
url |
https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/31239/22065 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; Vol. 17 No. 2 (2016); 349-362 Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; v. 17 n. 2 (2016); 349-362 2316-5278 1518-7187 reponame:Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) instname:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) instacron:PUC_SP |
instname_str |
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) |
instacron_str |
PUC_SP |
institution |
PUC_SP |
reponame_str |
Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) |
collection |
Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
revcognitio@gmail.com |
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1803387421761470464 |