Realism And Pragmatic Epistemology

Nicholas Rescher

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780822970934
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

An examination of philosophical realism from the standpoint of pragmatic epistemology, Realism and Pragmatic Epistemology 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.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• 1. Personal Experience and Realistic Ontology
• 2. Realism in Pragmatic Perspective
• 3. Presuppositional Realism and Justifactory Idealism
• 4. Rational Economy and the Evolutionary Impetus
• 5. Specificity Prioritization and the Primacy of the Particular
• 6. Dismissing Extremely Remote Possibilities
• 7. Default Reasoning
• 8. Cognitive Myopia and the World’s Lawfulness
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index