Realism and pragmatic epistemology / Nicholas Rescher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rescher, Nicholas.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of.

Physical Description:

xi, 126 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2005]

Summary:

An examination of philosophical realism from the standpoint of pragmatic epistemology, this book addresses the core idea of Rescher's work in epistemology: that functional and pragmatic concerns exert a controlling influence on the conduct of rational inquiry and on the ways in which we can and should regard its products. Pragmatism is widely regarded as a philosophical approach that stands at odds with realism, but Rescher takes a very different approach. He views pragmatism as a realistic position that can be developed from a pragmatic point of view, and utilizes a number of case studies to augment his position. Throughout, he shows how the pragmatic and purposive setting of our putative knowledge of the real world proves to be crucial for the constituting and also for the constitution of our knowledge.

Contents:

Personal experience and realistic ontology

Realism in pragmatic perspective

Presuppositional realism and justifactory idealism

Rational economy and the evolutionary impetus

Specificity prioritization and the primacy of the particular

Dismissing extremely remote possibilities

Default reasoning

Cognitive myopia and the world's lawfulness.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-124) and index.

ISBN:

0822942496

OCLC:

56894525