conceptual non-dualizing philosophy EDITORIAL
Non-dualizing from Now On? Editorial to the Special Issue on the Non-dualizing Philosophy of Josef Mitterer
Alexander Riegler A Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
“With the first edition of Kant’s Critique of Pure truth. The last volume, Die Richtung des Den- scriptions in debate do not fail when confront- Reason (1781) the seeds for the ouster of kens [The Direction of Thinking] is in prepara- ed with objects, but rather fail against new de- metaphysics were sown, tion and will deal with a critique of the object- scriptions. Constructivists felt addressed. But an ouster that was vigorously pushed along by orientation of epistemological thought. Mitterer irritated them when he included in logical positivism in the last century. Josef Mitterer was born in 1948 in the small his 1992 book a sharp criticism of the neuro- Josef Mitterer is the proponent of a third Tyrolean village of Westendorf, Austria, which biological foundations of constructivism, es- conceptual revision that, if carried out, is better known for skiing and tourism. He pecially of Humberto Maturana, Francisco would thoroughly change the method studied psychology, sociology and philosophy Varela and Gerhard Roth. Since then, the sci- and the goals of philosophical investigation.” in Innsbruck, Linz, and Graz, and spent some entific community has seemed to be uncertain Ernst von Glasersfeld, this issue, p. 123 time at the London School of Economics, as to whether Mitterer should be labelled a Heidelberg University and the Inter-university constructivist or a critic of constructivism. In Centre Dubrovnik. In 1976 he went to study this special issue we would like to clarify this The philosopher with Paul Feyerabend at the University of Cal- point, among others. ifornia at Berkeley where he continued to de- According to Mitterer’s own philosophy, When the Austrian philosopher Josef Mitterer velop his philosophical ideas. In 1978 he ob- we, the editors, did not exert any pressure on handed out his dissertation Sprache und tained a doctoral degree from the University of the authors to streamline their contributions Wirklichkeit. Eine erkenntnistheoretische Ab- Graz with a dissertation he wrote with Rudolf and terminology to a single “true” translation. handlung [Language and Reality: An Epistemo- Haller, entitled Sprache und Wirklichkeit [Lan- Therefore the reader should not be surprised logical Treatise] to some colleagues for feed- guage and Reality]. After his studies – and due to find a variety of terms referring to Mitterer’s back in the late 1970s, the reactions varied be- to the reasons mentioned above – Mitterer philosophy. Should “nicht-dualisierende Re- tween incomprehension, friendly rejection turned to an entirely different domain, namely deweise” be translated as “non-dualizing and a straight “he must be joking.” Disap- tourism, and worked as a professional tour mode of speaking,” “non-dualistic way of talk- pointed by some rather hostile receptions guide in Europe and Asia and later as a man- ing,” or simply as “non-dualism”? We left it to (some even called it a “danger to academic phi- agement consultant for tour operators in the the authors to find the terminology that fits losophy”) he turned his back on academia. United States and Canada. He condensed his their intentions best, the intention being to Mitterer followed the suggestion of Ludwig experiences in the travel world into the essay honor but also critically evaluate Mitterer’s Wittgenstein, who wrote in Vermischte Be- Der König von Frankreich lebt oder die Wirkli- philosophy across the disciplines. merkungen, “The greeting among philoso- chkeit auf Reisen [The King of France is Alive or phers should be ‘Take your time’,” and did not the Reality of Travel], which was republished as publish the book version of his dissertation The Reality of Travel (cf. the contribution of The contributions until 1992, under the title Das Jenseits der Phi- Matthias Kross in this issue). Since 1990, Mit- losophie. Wider das dualistische Erkennt- terer has been teaching philosophy at the Uni- Is Josef Mitterer’s non-dualizing philosophy nisprinzip [The Beyond of Philosophy: Against versity of Klagenfurt in southern Austria. yet another philosophical flavor, of which the dualistic Principle of Cognition]. In 100 the- In 1988 Mitterer published the article Ab- there are so many in the academic world? Yet ses he developed a non-dualizing epistemolo- schied von der Wahrheit [Farewell to Truth] in another philosophical trinket that arouses the gy, which forgoes the categorical distinction the German philosophical journal DELFIN, short-lived attention of some people and dis- between language and reality beyond lan- which was mainly a platform for constructiv- appears quickly thereafter? Yet another dalli- guage. This book was to become the first in a ist thinking at that time. This publication ance without implications either for philoso- series of three. The second volume, Die Flucht brought Mitterer into contact with Ernst von phy or for science? We are convinced of the aus der Beliebigkeit [The Escape from Arbitrari- Glasersfeld and slowly introduced non-dualis- contrary. For many years Mitterer has steadily ness], published in 2001, is a critical assess- tic philosophy to constructivists. Mitterer’s built up a reputation as an innovative but at ment of the traditional goal of philosophy, i.e., main thesis in the paper was the idea that de- the same time also very careful thinker. His
120 Constructivist Foundations 2008, vol. 3, no. 3 http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/journal/
conceptual non-dualizing philosophy EDITORIAL
claims have been discussed in various circles, is the description of the object so far. The claim With the help of cognitive maps Karl H. but, unfortunately, this has so far happened in of a priority of an object compared to the in- Müller charts various flavors of the (radical) German- and Polish-speaking countries only. dication of the object is only possible after the constructivist approach and how they relate Meanwhile “take your time” has taken time indication of the object. This means that we to each other, and shows the importance of and Mitterer celebrated his 60th birthday in cannot claim that there are objects beyond Mitterer’s philosophy for radical constructiv- July 2008, an opportunity we used to gather claims. Otherwise we get trapped in an infinite ist (RC) research. He considers Mitterer’s connoisseurs of his work to discuss, for the regress. work as a radical critique of the semantic turn. first time in the English language, his achieve- Franz Ofner starts with the observation The relevance of non-dualism varies accord- ments and impact. The result is in no relation that Mitterer has not developed a non-dualis- ing to the use of the term “radical constructiv- to the limited spread of his ideas so far. We have tic concept of action. He suggests that George ism.” Its relevance is significant if RC is viewed collected some 22 contributions covering a Herbert Mead’s theory, in his opinion con- as a new epistemology but left marginal if RC large variety of intellectual terrain and point- taining a non-dualistic nucleus, may be a way is a label for a group of empirical research pro- ing out the potential impact of his philosophy to implement this missing link. grams. from now on. Volker Gadenne intends to reconcile real- ism and constructivism and proposes a cau- Non-dualizing Philosophy and Reconstructing tious or “fallibilistic” version of realism by tak- Actor-Network Theory Philosophical Dualisms ing constructivist criticism seriously and In Poland, a group of young philosophers has In the first section three authors try to identify treating knowledge as a constructive process. worked out the links between Mitterer’s phi- traces of non-dualistic thinking in the history He argues that non-dualism is wrong when it losophy and the actor-network theory (ANT) of philosophy. says that a thesis does not fail by means of the of Bruno Latour et al. Two of them present the The conceptual analysis of Ernst von Gla- object, but by means of a new thesis. Gadenne details of their work in this section. sersfeld scrutinizes the notion of dichotomy, reminds us that there is experience between a Krzysztof Abriszewski compares Mitter- which is Mitterer’s main task as well. The au- thesis and its failure. er’s non-dualizing way of speaking (NDS) thor discusses Ogden’s work on dichotomy with Latour’s ANT. Despite their different re- and concludes with the claim that non-dualiz- Non-dualizing Philosophy and spective backgrounds – ANT is a continua- ing philosophy is an excellent example of how (Radical) Constructivism tion of social studies of science situated in the to counter the tradition of realism. Mitterer’s philosophy has always been said to field of sociology of knowledge while NDS be- Christian Meierhofer aims to reproduce have close ties with (radical) constructivism longs to the domain of philosophy of lan- the development of non-dualism by drawing despite Mitterer’s attempts to keep equidis- guage and epistemology – the author shows similarities and associations between Mitter- tance to both realism and constructivism (cf. that there is a certain degree of convergence er’s work, and cultural theories and philoso- the brief remark in his text in this special is- between them. phies prior to Mitterer. In particular he points sue). Four authors in this section explore this The paper by Ewa Binczyk embraces Mit- out that there are some interesting analogies alleged relationship. terer’s criticism of dualistic ways of thinking between Mitterer and the work of James, Rick- The section starts with one of Josef Mitter- and speaking. Starting with Rorty’s neoprag- ert, Weber, Neurath, Mannheim, and Cecca- er’s texts, translated into English for the first matism and the so-called strong program of to. time. Mitterer argues that there are more sim- sociology of knowledge – both of which are Peter Weibel puts Mitterer’s philosophy ilarities than differences between realism and shown to entail dualistic inconsistencies – the into the historical context of the Austrian phi- constructivism and that constructivism author makes a strong case for an NDS-in- losophy of language around 1900 – especially should fully abandon the notion of “reality” to spired anti-essentialism. As in Abriszewski’s that of the work of Stöhr, Wahle, Mauthner, become more consistent. paper, Latour’s constructivism is presented as and Wittgenstein. He gives reasons for his the- Siegfried J. Schmidt explores Mitterer’s a kin theory to NDS that can be fruitfully ap- sis that “Josef Mitterer took the Viennese tradi- criticism of dualistic elements in various plied to empirical research programs. tion of language critique as an epistemological forms of radical constructivism. Schmidt ar- principle to its intellectual conclusion” and de- gues for a non-dualistic form of constructiv- Non-dualizing Philosophy in scribes how the “tertium non datur” could be ism by drawing on Mitterer’s arguments, but Feminism and Policy Making invalidated by non-dualism. developing his own terminology inspired by What are the implications of non-dualizing Hegel. philosophy for society and politics? In this The Description and the Object in What are the implications of non-dualiz- section two authors elaborate on gender and Non-dualizing Philosophy ing philosophy for empirical research from a political aspects. In this section three authors are concerned constructivist perspective? Armin Scholl de- Aleksandra Derra attends to the problem with the key arguments of non-dualizing phi- velops a striking argumentation for reconcil- of female subjectivity. By drawing on Mitterer losophy and its possible flaws. ing radical constructivism and non-dualism. and Latour the author seeks to overcome es- Stefan Weber discusses the core arguments He considers both to be similar with regard to sentialist ascriptions that block further of non-dualism developed step by step in The the relationship between theory and empiri- progress in the feminist movement. Accord- Beyond of Philosophy: the object of description cial research. ing to the author, only in a non-dualistic ap-
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conceptual non-dualizing philosophy EDITORIAL
proach is emancipation able to focus on the consistent framework. Therefore, Mitterer’s cal reception of the work of Mitterer has only situation of women rather than getting stuck philosophy seems appropriate to offering just begun. So of course there are blind spots in essentialist definitions. new insights into the way that consensus or in this publication – things you can imagine Mathis Danelzik addresses a so far com- dissent is manufactured in a world of more today, but that have not happened so far. Two pletely neglected topic: What are the political and more mediated descriptions. dialogues especially are desiderata: implications of non-dualistic philosophy? Starting with the claim that speaking is a [ Non-dualizing philosophy and (quan- The author discusses to what extent the im- process of embodied experience, the objective tum) physics: There are realist and con- perative to tolerance follows from a non-du- of Sibylle Moser is to explore Mitterer’s non- structivist interpretations of quantum ef- alistic framework. Finally, he sheds light on dualizing philosophy via Laurie Anderson’s fects, but so far there is no adaptation of the question of power and social dynamics. performance art in general, and more partic- the key arguments of non-dualism in ap- ularly with reference to her treatment of lan- proaching or interpreting quantum phys- The Potential of Non-dualizing guage as an “embodied process.” Together ics. What would be the role of the observer Philosophy in the Humanities with Mitterer, Moser challenges the tradition- of quantum processes in the unity of ob- This section features the work of six authors al truth-functional views of language and ject and description in non-dualism? ranging from philosophy to media theory, thought exemplified by a work of art. [ Non-dualizing philosophy and the history from pedagogics to the science of art. of Austrian epistemology: Does Mitterer Sven Grampp compares Mitterer’s posi- The Beyond of mark a categorical break with logical em- tion with Wittgenstein’s On Certainty on is- Non-dualizing Philosophy piricism and Wittgenstein, or are there any sues such as knowledge, doubt, and norms. In this special concluding section two leading points of reference? He argues that Wittgenstein’s pragmatic in- Austrian intellectuals present their ways of So will we all be non-dualizing from now vestigations of certainty point toward a dual- talking about non-dualism: the philosopher on? We strongly believe that Mitterer’s work istic worldview “without being a dualist.” Peter Strasser has delivered a paper that is contains enough “philosophical dynamite” to Grampp therefore remains skeptical as to metaphysical as well as ironical and the re- shake the foundations not only of philosoph- whether Mitterer’s view is compatible with nowned Austrian theologian Adolf Holl talks ical disciplines but also of the humanities, of Wittgenstein’s. about the “beyond of the theologians” that we natural sciences, and possibly beyond that: in The paper by Matthias Kross reminds us never can talk about. everyday conversation situations whenever of a not well known but highly original paper Peter Strasser takes the reader on a fairly we refer to a reality or to something that is said by Josef Mitterer, The Reality of Travel. Kross’ satirical ride seeking similarities and differ- to be happening “in fact.” contribution links the philosopher’s theories ences comparing the non-dualizing philoso- to the philosopher’s life. It characterizes the phy of Josef Mitterer, the idealistic position of role of the philosopher, and even more, the Bishop Berkeley and famous passages in the Acknowledgments epistemologist, as a “passenger,” deeply em- gospel according to St. John. Finally he criti- bedded in what Arnold van Gennep called cizes Mitterer’s position by introducing the It would have been impossible to realize this “rites de passage.” “It” as the blind spot of non-dualism, or, as special issue without the help of numerous re- Martin Staude attempts a formal-logical the author calls it, its “nightmare” (allusions viewers who provided constructive criticism reconstruction of non-dualizing philosophy to Sigmund Freud and Stephen King, howev- that helped the respective authors to sharpen combined with the logic of distinction of er, are purely coincidental…). their arguments. We would like to thank the George Spencer Brown. Furthermore he aims Adolf Holl, finally, known for being a crit- following external referees: Marian Adolf, at linking the notion of description, central in ical voice in the Catholic world, is concerned Michael L. Anderson, Stefan Artmann, Ste- Mitterer’s work, to the sociological and semi- about the “beyond of the theologians,” which fanie Averbeck-Dietz, Dirk Baecker, Berit otic notion of meaning. Finally he presents a is alluded to by Mitterer in his paper from Brogaard, Richard Creath, Werner DePauli- non-dualistic interpretation of the semiotic 1988. Schimanovich, Johanna Dorer, Christian triangle. Fuchs, Alexander Görke, Gerhard Grössing, Theo Hug investigates the notion of truth Mark L. Johnson, Matthias Kohring, David J. in education. By focusing on possible transla- The impact Krieger, Elisabeth List, Oliver Marchart, An- tions of a central statement of Mitterer’s, Hug drzej W. Nowak, Ana Pasztor, Alois Pichler, explores the relationship between non-dual- This special issue of Constructivist Founda- Otto E. Rössler, Wolff-Michael Roth, Franc ism and contemporary philosophy of educa- tions features 22 contributions from eight sci- Rottiers, Leslie Steffe, Thomas Steinmaurer, tion. He arrives at the conclusion that Mitter- entific disciplines: philosophy, psychology, Rainer Thurnher, Gertrudis Van de Vijver, er’s philosophy sets apart a new field of peda- cognitive science, sociology, media science, and Jutta Weber. Our thanks also go to WIS- gogical discourse. pedagogics, science of art, and theology. It DOM for printing a limited edition of this Roland Graf’s contribution deals with me- shows that there is an enormous potential to special issue and to the Viennese artist Her- dia theory and media philosophy. For him, discuss critically the non-dualistic ideas of Jo- bert Starek who provided us with the cover some media philosophers have already sef Mitterer in cultural as well as natural sci- art, “Die Erde ist eine Scheibe” [the Earth is a adopted principles of non-dualism without a ences. But it also demonstrates that the criti- disc].
122 Constructivist Foundations