Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2013 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) |
Texto Completo: | https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/13230 |
Resumo: | What is it about pragmatism that has from its inception been found disturbing? I am reminded of Daniel Dennett’s remark in his 2000 American Philosophical Association Presidential Address that “many people dislike Darwinism in their guts.” There is something about pragmatism that has always been found deeply troubling and I believe it is related to what troubles people about Darwinism. Inspired by Dennett’s treatment of the idea and impact of evolutionary theory in his Presidential Address and in his book, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, I will look at pragmatism in that light and will suggest that it may be even more threatening than Darwinism to traditional western values and the glorification of individualism. I will suggest that pragmatism is a naturalistic philosophy that presupposes a radical evolutionism and that, try as they might to subsititute a belief in an exuberant meliorism for religious faith, pragmatists must eventually face the fact that everything is fleeting and that ignorance will prevail. In fact, taking the long view of things, there really is no future. But, surprisingly perhaps, this is no cause for a pessimistic outlook. Futility, in the long run, is no excuse for despair today. Interlaced with these somewhat didactic themes, I will include some comparison of Dennett’s parsimonious philosophy with the views of the original pragmatists, especially with Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism, and I will briefly consider whether the naturalism running from Quine to Dennett is a branch of neo-pragmatism that has been largely unrecognized. |
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Pragmatism and the Loss of InnocencePragmatismo e a Perda da Inocência(neo)pragmatismoPeirceDennettdarwinismoevolucionismonaturalismo(neo-)pragmatismPeirceDennettDarwinismevolutionismnaturalismWhat is it about pragmatism that has from its inception been found disturbing? I am reminded of Daniel Dennett’s remark in his 2000 American Philosophical Association Presidential Address that “many people dislike Darwinism in their guts.” There is something about pragmatism that has always been found deeply troubling and I believe it is related to what troubles people about Darwinism. Inspired by Dennett’s treatment of the idea and impact of evolutionary theory in his Presidential Address and in his book, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, I will look at pragmatism in that light and will suggest that it may be even more threatening than Darwinism to traditional western values and the glorification of individualism. I will suggest that pragmatism is a naturalistic philosophy that presupposes a radical evolutionism and that, try as they might to subsititute a belief in an exuberant meliorism for religious faith, pragmatists must eventually face the fact that everything is fleeting and that ignorance will prevail. In fact, taking the long view of things, there really is no future. But, surprisingly perhaps, this is no cause for a pessimistic outlook. Futility, in the long run, is no excuse for despair today. Interlaced with these somewhat didactic themes, I will include some comparison of Dennett’s parsimonious philosophy with the views of the original pragmatists, especially with Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism, and I will briefly consider whether the naturalism running from Quine to Dennett is a branch of neo-pragmatism that has been largely unrecognized.O que há com o pragmatismo que desde seu nascimento é considerado perturbador? Lembro-me da observação de Daniel Dennett, em seu Pronunciamento Presidencial da American Philosophical Association, que “muitas pessoas detestam visceralmente o darwinismo”. Há algo com o pragmatismo que sempre foi considerado profundamente incômodo, e eu acredito que isso esteja relacionado com o que incomoda as pessoas no darwinismo. Inspirado no tratamento de Dennett, em seu Pronunciamento Presidencial e em seu livro Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, da idéia e do impacto da teoria evolucionária, olharei para o pragmatismo sob essa luz e sugerirei que ele pode ser ainda mais ameaçador do que o darwinismo, para os valores tradicionais do ocidente e para a glorificação do individualismo. Sugerirei que o pragmatismo é uma filosofia naturalista que pressupõe um evolucionismo radical e que, tentem o quanto puderem substituir uma crença em um meliorismo exuberante pela fé religiosa, os pragmatistas devem conseqüentemente encarar o fato de que tudo é passageiro e de que a ignorância prevalecerá. Mas, talvez surpreendentemente, isto não é causa para uma perspectiva pessimista. A futilidade, em longo prazo, não é desculpa para o desespero, hoje em dia. Incluirei, entrelaçada com estes temas algo didáticos, alguma comparação da filosofia parcimoniosa de Dennett com as visões dos pragmatistas originais, especialmente com o pragmatismo semiótico de Peirce, e considerarei brevemente se o naturalismo que vem de Quine para Dennett é um ramo neopragmatista que foi amplamente ignorado.Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo2013-01-09info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/13230Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; Vol. 4 No. 2 (2003); 49-62Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; v. 4 n. 2 (2003); 49-622316-52781518-7187reponame:Cognitio (São Paulo. Online)instname:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)instacron:PUC_SPenghttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/13230/9743Copyright (c) 2013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessHouser, Nathan2024-07-01T13:09:31Zoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/13230Revistahttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofiaPRIhttps://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/oairevcognitio@gmail.com2316-52781518-7187opendoar:2024-07-01T13:09:31Cognitio (São Paulo. Online) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence Pragmatismo e a Perda da Inocência |
title |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
spellingShingle |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence Houser, Nathan (neo)pragmatismo Peirce Dennett darwinismo evolucionismo naturalismo (neo-)pragmatism Peirce Dennett Darwinism evolutionism naturalism |
title_short |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
title_full |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
title_fullStr |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
title_sort |
Pragmatism and the Loss of Innocence |
author |
Houser, Nathan |
author_facet |
Houser, Nathan |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Houser, Nathan |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
(neo)pragmatismo Peirce Dennett darwinismo evolucionismo naturalismo (neo-)pragmatism Peirce Dennett Darwinism evolutionism naturalism |
topic |
(neo)pragmatismo Peirce Dennett darwinismo evolucionismo naturalismo (neo-)pragmatism Peirce Dennett Darwinism evolutionism naturalism |
description |
What is it about pragmatism that has from its inception been found disturbing? I am reminded of Daniel Dennett’s remark in his 2000 American Philosophical Association Presidential Address that “many people dislike Darwinism in their guts.” There is something about pragmatism that has always been found deeply troubling and I believe it is related to what troubles people about Darwinism. Inspired by Dennett’s treatment of the idea and impact of evolutionary theory in his Presidential Address and in his book, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, I will look at pragmatism in that light and will suggest that it may be even more threatening than Darwinism to traditional western values and the glorification of individualism. I will suggest that pragmatism is a naturalistic philosophy that presupposes a radical evolutionism and that, try as they might to subsititute a belief in an exuberant meliorism for religious faith, pragmatists must eventually face the fact that everything is fleeting and that ignorance will prevail. In fact, taking the long view of things, there really is no future. But, surprisingly perhaps, this is no cause for a pessimistic outlook. Futility, in the long run, is no excuse for despair today. Interlaced with these somewhat didactic themes, I will include some comparison of Dennett’s parsimonious philosophy with the views of the original pragmatists, especially with Peirce’s semiotic pragmatism, and I will briefly consider whether the naturalism running from Quine to Dennett is a branch of neo-pragmatism that has been largely unrecognized. |
publishDate |
2013 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2013-01-09 |
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/13230 |
url |
https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/13230 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/view/13230/9743 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2013 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. 4 No. 2 (2003); 49-62 Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia; v. 4 n. 2 (2003); 49-62 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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1803387420483256320 |