Article ID: CBB000831774

How (Not) to Write the History of Pragmatist Philosophy of Science? (2008)

unapi

This survey article discusses the pragmatist tradition in twentieth century philosophy of science. Pragmatism, originating with Charles Peirce's writings on the pragmatic maxim in the 1870s, is a background both for scientific realism and, via the views of William James and John Dewey, for the relativist and/or constructivist forms of neopragmatism that have often been seen as challenging the very ideas of scientific rationality and objectivity. The paper shows how the issue of realism arises in pragmatist philosophy of science and how some pragmatists, classical and modern, have attempted to deal with it. Various dimensions of the realism dispute are thus discussed, especially realism as contrasted to instrumentalism and realism as contrasted to relativism/constructivism. It is argued that the pragmatist tradition cannot avoid these tensions but is largely constituted by them.

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Authors & Contributors
Gori, Pietro
Skorburg, Joshua August
Levine, Steven
John J. Stuhr
Parsons, Keith M.
Kidd, Ian James
Concepts
Philosophy
Pragmatism; instrumentalism
History of philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
Psychology
Objectivity
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
18th century
Places
United States
Institutions
Vienna Circle
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