DOCSLIB.ORG

Pragmatism and Social Ethics: an Intercultural and Phenomenological Approach

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Pragmatism and Social Ethics: an Intercultural and Phenomenological Approach Contemporary Pragmatism Editions Rodopi Vol. 5, No. 1 (June 2008), 121–146 © 2008 Pragmatism and Social Ethics: An Intercultural and Phenomenological Approach Lenart Skof This article deals with some intercultural and phenomenological uses of pragmatist thought. In the first part, early methods of comparative philosophy are linked to James’s radical empiricism. The second part analyses Dewey’s social philosophy, interpreted from the inter- cultural perspective and linked to James’s philosophy. The third part argues for an enlargement of the uses of Deweyan social thought in the broader intercultural contexts. Finally, the phenomenology of breath is introduced and proposed as the basis for a new pragmatist social ethics of solidarity. A conception of human life and of its prospects has taken over the world. It is the most powerful religion of humanity today… At its extreme limit, it is the visionary conviction … that all men and women are bound together by an invisible circle of love. R. M. Unger1 1. From a methodological and epistemological point of view, perhaps one of the greatest imaginable differences existing within twentieth century philosophical thought is that between pragmatism and intercultural philosophy. Pragmatism is a distinctively American philosophy and an integral part of the Western philosophical (and scientific) tradition. Intercultural philosophy is a (relatively) new mode of thinking related to critical philosophical movements of the twentieth century. They appear to represent two opposite sides of philosophical discourse and worldview – pragmatism, an essentially (and historically) ‘ethnocentric’ philosophy of Western culture, and intercultural philosophy as its most natural adversary and rival.2 However, from the perspective of their practical results and importance for contemporary thought, a different story can be seen to emerge about pragmatism and intercultural philosophy – one pregnant with implicit as well as explicit interpretative possibilities. In his paper “Pragmatism and East-Asian Thought,” Richard Shusterman already pointed out many roots of pragmatism that extend to Asian thought: Ralph Waldo Emerson and William James drew 122 LENART SKOF directly from Asian sources (Upanishads, Yoga, Buddhism, Vedanta); while John Dewey, during his visits to Japan and China, was fascinated and influenced by their cultures.3 According to one of the leading American pragmatist philosophers Cornel West, Emerson can be viewed as a forerunner to the entire tradition of American pragmatism. Emerson disregarded the philosophy of his time and rejected its epistemological problems (the “quest for certainty” and “search for foundations”).4 Being a fervent (but practically oriented) “mystic,” Emerson intuitively drew from various Western and Eastern sources (the latter being predominantly Vedic/Upanishadic) in conceptualizing his worldview. Because of the nature of his eclecticism it is impossible to conclude how much of each tradition has actually entered his “proto-pragmatist” thought, but clearly there is a link to Indian thought in his most important notions about the soul.5 Emerson influenced Charles Peirce and William James,6 and John Dewey described the Emersonian worldview in terms of a historical, “European,” Hegelian thinking. Within the intercultural philosophy, on the other hand, the comparative philosopher P. Masson-Oursel offers us some interesting insights that point to its relation to the tradition of classical American pragmatism. It was P. Deussen who strove to describe anew the history of world philosophy (in his major work Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie, 1894–1917). Deussen, as a Schopenhauerian, was still unable to evade a great, ‘classical’ and Europeanized philosophical synthesis of Plato, Kant and Vedanta. It was therefore P. Masson-Oursel’s Comparative Philosophy that methodologically established a new line of thought in philosophy.7 Masson- Oursel was both a radical Hegelian historicist and a radical Comtean positivist thinker, in the sense of being committed to the observation of specific facts rather than dogmas.8 As a historicist, he inductively took in his science historique “the facts of philosophy from history,”9 and as a positivist, he was convinced that there is not a single historical fact of society or civilization, be it large or small, that could not be objectively analyzed or interpreted in a thoroughly scientifically positive, i.e. non-ethnocentric way – “for there is no society without some civilization.”10 This was an important nouveauté in philosophy, a rarity even, for it was unusual for social and cultural anthro- pological writings of that time to give so much emphasis to the thought of the ‘Other’ when dealing with non-European thinking. This was long before the emergence of (postcolonial) African philosophy, as well as before the rise of intercultural philosophy. Methodologically, however, Masson-Oursel’s aim to construct a positive comparative philosophy is not entirely unproblematic. Masson-Oursel’s study is an example of positivist philosophical thinking – a scientific method “pragmatically” committed to hypotheses, its major feature being scientific probability. Although he was convinced that no fully objective and anti-ethnocentrical philosophy is possible (“We are obliged to take Europe as our point of departure because we can only comprehend our neighbor relatively to ourselves, even though we learn not to judge him by ourselves”11),.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Concept of the “Polylogue” and the Question of “Intercultural” Identity
    Intercultural Communication Studies XIX: 3 2010 Chen The Concept of the “Polylogue” and the Question of “Intercultural” Identity Hsueh-i Chen, National Taiwan Normal University In this study, two different ideas will be analyzed, the concept of the polylogue, which was developed by Franz Martin Wimmer, and the assumption of an intercultural identity. The complementary relationship between the two ideas will be expounded. In a polylogue, individuals are confronted with several dialogue partners from different cultures simultaneously; the term is used to emphasize that many perspectives need to be considered, rather than just two, as the word dialogue seems to imply. Due to its different approach, the idea of the polylogue will profoundly affect the structure of intercultural communication. This study also takes the multicultural nature of actual reality into account, presupposes the human ability to accept different cultures, and attempts to explore the relations between interculturally capable individuals and multicultural society. Under the assistance of a conception of an intercultural identity, finding one’s identity not only involves one’s own pre-existing tradition but also includes influences from other cultures as well. Employing the concept of the polylogue and relying on the human capacity for multicultural acceptance, individuals should be able to construct their own personal intercultural identities and communicate with others interculturally. The concept and term polylogue stems from Franz Martin Wimmer (Wimmer, 2004), a contemporary Austrian philosopher who employs the concept in order to surmount the so- called Eurocentrism in philosophical thinking. Not only does he criticize the standard, narrow-minded way of philosophizing, in using the term polylogue, he also intends to reject every possible form of cultural centrism, such as Sinocentrism and Americacentrism.
    [Show full text]
  • APA Newsletters
    APA Newsletters Volume 01, Number 2 Spring 2002 NEWSLETTER ON HISPANIC/LATINO ISSUES IN PHILOSOPHY FROM THE EDITOR, EDUARDO MENDIETA ARTICLES BENIGNO TRIGO “Latinamerican Genealogies: Appropriating Foucault” EDWARD DEMONCHONOK “Globalization, Postcoloniality, and Interculturality” INTERVIEWS LINDA MARTIN ALCOFF “Introduction: ‘Puerto Rican Studies in a German Philosophy Context: An Interview with Juan Flores’” LINDA MARTIN ALCOFF “Introduction: ‘A Philosophical Account of Africana Studies: An Interview with Lewis Gordon’” © 2002 by The American Philosophical Association ISSN: 1067-9464 APA NEWSLETTER ON Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy Eduardo Mendieta, Editor Spring 2002 Volume 01, Number 2 States. He is known for his work on Frantz Fanon, race theory, phenomenology and Africana philosophy. His work is FROM THE EDITOR particularly significant because he has been bridging the divide between Latino Studies, Latin American philosophy, and Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American thought. These two Eduardo Mendieta “Afro-Latino” philosophers epitomize the cosmopolitanism and originality of an emergent paradigm in cultural studies In this issue of the newsletter we have been able include a and philosophy. version of the introduction to the recently published book The committee welcomes as a new chair Susana Foucault and Latin America, edited by Benigno Trigo. This Nuccetelli who has been appointed by the APA directors to wonderful collection gathers canonical texts from Latin take over Pablo DeGreiff, who resigned late last semester from American literary criticism and more recent contributions that the chairship. We are thankful to Prof. Nuccetelli for taking exhibit a creative appropriation of Foucault for the study of over this important job. We also congratulate her for the recent Latin America.
    [Show full text]
  • The Promise and Problems of Intercultural Philosophy
    The Promise and Problems of Inferculfural Philosophy Murray Hofmeyr Deporlment of Philosophy, University of Vendo Abstract In this paper I sketch the main elements of Heinz Kimmer/e's conceptualisation of intercultural phlïosophy: a new concept of difference that makes possible a new take on "different and equar~ which is the foundation for real dialogue. I interrogate the concept of culture in intercultural philosophYt and argue that for the South African context suffident emphasis must be ploeed on power relations as they impact on cultures and the legaey of a hlstory of cultural domination. / try to show that Kimmer/e's notion of the equa/ity of cultures imp/ies that a particu/ar context IS taken seriously as avalid instanee of the human condition, and in that sense it is of equal status with all other si/uations. All '/oealities" are linked in some way or another. /t thus belongs to adequate/y conceptualising the thoughts and feelings of a speC/fic locality that the need for dialogue should be ref/ected. A philosophy that negates these shifts would be dlsqualified as inadequate. The fact that it seeks dia/ogue IS indicative of the experience of an aporia. It IS loek, incomp/eteness, which IS universa!. I a/so tentatively propose "contex/ua/ phlïosophyl/ as a more appropriate name for intercultura/ philosophy in South Afriea. Introduction The first part of this paper is a description of the main elements of intercultural philosophy as conceptualised by the German philosopher Heinz Kimmerie, who taught at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam since 1976, and since his retirement in 1995 heads the Foundation for Intercultural Philosophy ond Art in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.
    [Show full text]
  • A Response to Defoort, Wenning, and Marchal
    Intercultural Philosophy and Intercultural Hermeneutics: A Response to Defoort, Wenning, and Marchal Eric S. Nelson Division of Humanities, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology [email protected] I. Introduction Carine Defoort, Mario Wenning, and Kai Marchal offer three ways of engaging with Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought and the philosophical, hermeneutical, and historical issues it attempted to articulate and address.1 This work is historical with a contemporary philosophical intent: to reexamine a tumultuous contested epoch of philosophy’s past in order to reconsider its existing limitations and alternative possibilities. One dimension of this book is the investigation of constellations and entanglements of historical forces and concepts for the sake of articulating critical models and alternatives for the present.2 In the book, I contested the modern self-image of philosophy as exclusively and intrinsically Occidental by genealogically tracing how philosophy is already intercultural through a series of case studies focusing primarily on early twentieth-century German philosophy in its broader historical context. This critical genealogy of the intercultural conditions of the formation of modern philosophy is evidenced not only by considering “positive” influences and appropriations, as in Martin Buber, Martin Heidegger, or Georg Misch’s interpretation of Daoist sources such as the Zhuangzi 莊子 (chapters 4 and 5), but also in the constructions of the autonomy and purity of modern Western philosophy through its reactions against, and exclusion and subordi- nation of, its “non-Western” others (chapters 1, 5, and 6). The book does not represent a purely Western history or narrative insofar as I draw on a variety of argumentational and hermeneutical strategies from Chinese and other dis- courses to reverse and transform Western prejudices and perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Intercultural Philosophy a New Branch Or a New Orientation in Philosophy? Franz M
    Is Intercultural Philosophy a New Branch or a New Orientation in Philosophy? Franz M. Wimmer, Vienna* Summary: Probably every human culture has developed typical ways of philosophising in the sense that there were given explanations of the world, of what man is, and of the right relationships between human beings. Some of the cultures of the past have invented systems of writing and documentation, thereby establishing long lasting traditions of thought. Amidst a period of globalisation of many aspects of human life, the problem now arises, whether there will be one single form or method of philosophy in the future. If so: what then will be the role of the different traditions in shaping this future thinking? If not: must we give up the idea that philosophy ever can argue for universally acceptable truths or insights? This paper deals with some aspects of these questions by discussing the role of (Euro_)centrism in the historiography of philosophy, and by analysing the impact of the different languages of philosophy on thinking itself. Introductory remarks There are two important questions with respect to intercultural philosophy which this paper is not going to deal with: firstly, whether or not there are several culturally different origins of philosophy, and secondly, how understanding and communication is possible between such different philosophical cultures. Concerning the first question I take it for granted that contemporary philosophising is dependent on different cultural frameworks and that philosophy originated not only in Europe, but elsewhere as well;1 at least if we agree that philosophical questions concern mainly three objects: the structures of reality, knowledgability, and argumentations on norms and values - if, in other words, we consider ontology, epistemology, and ethics to be the central fields of research in philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Intercultural Discourse, Critique, Emancipation and the Inclusion of the Other
    Intercultural Discourse, Critique, Emancipation and the Inclusion of the Other Fasil Merawi1 Abstract This paper critically engages contemporary discussions in intercultural philosophy and critical theory in light of achieving a profound critique of grand ideological schemes, propounding a model for an emancipatory praxis and the inclusion of the other in the dominant discourse. Intercultural philosophy tries to deconstruct the Eurocentrism of the philosophical tradition and in return introduces a reconstructive project centered on the embedded nature of cognition and the culturally oriented nature of philosophy. Critical social theory constitutes a critique of grand metaphysical systems that divorce theory from praxis and the transcendent from the transient. In return it tries to introduce an emancipatory praxis inspired by Hegelian-Marxism, is dialectical, reflexive, analyzes the contradictions of modernity and is interdisciplinary. Intercultural philosophy and critical social theory share a common interest in standing against grand metaphysical systems and centering on everyday centers of learning. Through such a critical exposition of the confines of intercultural philosophy and critical social theory, this paper argues that both approaches, (1) fail to go beyond the Eurocentric grand narrative of modernity that legitimizes Western ideology and is antithetical to the lived experiences of the other, (2) both approaches ultimately run into the problem of value incommensurability and (3) both approaches fail to introduce a quasi-transcendental
    [Show full text]
  • Thinking Between Cultures Pragmatism, Rorty and Intercultural Philosophy* Pensando Entre Culturas Pragmatismo, Rorty Y La Filosofía Intercultural
    Thinking Between Cultures Pragmatism, Rorty and Intercultural Philosophy* Pensando entre culturas Pragmatismo, Rorty y la filosofía intercultural Lenart Škof** Univerza na Primorskem - Eslovenia Abstract The paper discusses Rorty’s critique and special relation to intercultural think- ing. It looks into the history of both pragmatism and intercultural philosophy, discusses some of their possible points of convergence, and finally follows the im- plications of this encounter for our intercultural understanding of Rorty’s version of pragmatism, especially in the context of a contemporary North-South intercul- tural dialogue. Keywords: Rorty, pragmatism, intercultural philosophy, comparative philosophy, Schopenhauer. Resumen Este artículo discute la crítica de Rorty y su relación especial con el pensamien- to intercultural. Se concentra en la historia tanto del pragmatismo como de la filosofía intercultural, analiza algunos de sus posibles puntos de convergencia y, fi- nalmente, examina las implicaciones de este encuentro para nuestra comprensión intercultural de la versión rortyana del pragmatismo, especialmente en el contexto de un diálogo intercultural contemporáneo entre el norte y el sur. Palabras clave: Rorty, pragmatismo, filosofía intercultural, filosofía comparativa, Schopenhauer. Introduction In June 2004, Richard Rorty delivered a lecture at the House of Artists in Tehran. Invited as he was by an Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, Rorty –from his neopragmatist and antifoun- dationalist position– spoke about the ideas of ‘post-democracy’ and ‘human rights’ culture’ (cf. Postel 2006; 2006b).1 In a ‘post- Artículo solicitado al autor * I thank Eduardo Mendieta for the comments on an earlier draft of this paper. ** [email protected] 1 Let me in this context also point to Ronald Dworkin’s lecture on human rights in Beijing (2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminaries— Philosophy and Language
    CHAPTER 1 Preliminaries— Philosophy and Language Do We Need a Universal Notion of Philosophy? Narrow and Broad Definitions of Philosophy For more than a century, there have been controversies as to whether it is justified to use the epithet “philosophy” with respect to non-Western traditions. Volume 2 of the Encyclopédie philosophique universelle (Uni- versal Philosophical Encyclopedia), published in 1991 with support of UNESCO, consists of three parts: (1) philosophie occidentale (Western Philosophy); (2) pensées asiatiques (Asian Thinking); (3) conceptualization des sociétés traditionnelles (Conceptualization of traditional societies).1 This UNESCO encyclopedia displays a typical Western mentality in reserving philosophy to “Western Philosophy.” Its choice of terminology contrasts with that in a range of handbooks, anthologies, and journals, where such terms as “Comparative Philosophy,” “World Philosophy,” or “Chinese Philosophy” appear in their titles.2 In doing so, parts of Asian thinking and other modes of non-Western thought are taken self- evidently to be philosophy.3 These two tendencies co-exist with such paradoxical phenomena: on the one hand, as yet it has been difficult for a department of philosophy in the West to include a required course of Asian or intercultural (or comparative) philosophy into a standard program of philosophy.4 There- fore, Ames (2005: 35) formulates the motivation for comparative philos- ophy as follows: “We are seeking to overcome the seemingly invincible prejudice prevailing within the academy that has precluded the inclusion of Chinese philosophy as philosophy, not merely as ‘thought.’” On the other hand, the idea and contents of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, African 14 © 2016 State University of New York Press, Albany PRELIMINARIES—PHILOSOPHY AND LANGUAGE 15 philosophy has often been taken for granted in such marginal fields as comparative philosophy and world philosophy, as well as in philosophy departments in non- Western countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Intercultural Dialogue: in Search of Harmony in Diversity
    Intercultural Dialogue Intercultural Dialogue: In Search of Harmony in Diversity Edited by Edward Demenchonok Intercultural Dialogue: In Search of Harmony in Diversity, Edited by Edward Demenchonok This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Edward Demenchonok and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6362-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6362-9 CONTENTS Foreword .................................................................................................... ix Edward Demenchonok Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Striving for Dialogue and Harmony in a Conflicted World Edward Demenchonok and Keping Wang Part I. Cultural Identity and Intercultural Dialogue as an Alternative to Homogenizing Globalization Chapter One ............................................................................................... 21 Bridging the Gaps: The Voices of Non-Western Philosophies in Global Polylogue Enrique Dussel Chapter Two .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • On the Theory and Practice of Intercultural Philosophy
    On the Theory and Practice of Intercultural Philosophy von Hamid Reza Yousefi In the following I will discuss the structure, the topic and the tasks of intercultural philosophy which I would like to name a “science of peace”. It is subject to the polyhistorical dialogue and as a matter of principle declines feudal structures of communication. Two contra‐ dictory points of view are introduced in the context of the debate on the origin of philosophy: whereas the one tendency thinks of phi‐ losophy as “exclusively” Greek‐European and regards the rise of other sciences only connected to that the other tendency holds the opinion that philosophy is anyhow (“per se”) intercultural and therefore not “only” Greek, but “also” Greek. I plead for a theoreti‐ cal and practical process of decentralization and differentiation which amounts to conceive an “intercultural historiography of phi‐ losophy”. Hereby the intercultural philosophy does not present a new discipline besides the traditional philosophy; it rather aims at being its corrective and its elaboration. Accordingly, the analysis of social, political and communicative phenomena presents a central domain of the intercultural philosophy. It gives the formulations of questions and problems priority over philosophical traditions and aims at combining different thinking traditions each of them with their “own” formulations of questions and possible solutions as “equal” parts of discourse in order to start a polyhistorical dialogue at the same eye level. Introduction Intercultural philosophy, as a science of peace, is a thought‐ provoking occupation with both theoretical practical aspects based on dialogic principles and built on a foundation of empirical herme‐ neutic methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Intercultural Philosophy and the Phenomenon of Migrating Texts and Traditions William Sweet1
    1 Intercultural Philosophy and the Phenomenon of Migrating Texts and Traditions William Sweet1 Recently, there has been much discussion of the relation of philosophy and culture and, particularly, of the bearing of culture on philosophy. For example, one finds today the thesis that philosophies emerge from their cultures, and can never stand independently of them. This thesis is, of course, by no means uncontroversial and it is not universally accepted, but it is nevertheless widely held. If this thesis is true, however, it raises a question – and that is about philosophy ‘across’ cultures. If philosophical traditions cannot be separated from the cultures in which they originate, can there be an ‘intercultural’ or ‘comparative’ philosophy? By ‘intercultural’ or ‘comparative’ philosophy, I do not mean to refer to a particular content or approach to philosophy, but simply the explicit activity of drawing on or engaging philosophies originating from outside one’s culture or traditions, in the process of carrying out one’s own philosophical work. It is not so much – as Paul Masson‐Oursel writes, concerning what he called “la philosophie comparée” – “the general examination of the ways in which human beings of all races and cultures reflect upon their actions and act upon their reflections.”2 “It is perhaps closer to what British and Indian philosophers in the early and mid 20th century, such as Alban Widgery, P.T. Raju, and – most famously – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, described the view that there is “a common platform” from which philosophical
    [Show full text]
  • How Are Histories of Non-Western Philosophies Relevant to Intercultural Philosophizing?
    Confluence: Online Journal of World Philosophies, Vol. 3, 2015 How Are Histories of Non-Western Philosophies Relevant to Intercultural Philosophizing? Philosophy is, whatever else can be addressed by the term, an academic field established worldwide. But this is in fact true for only one of many philosophical traditions which humankind has produced in different regions of the world, namely the occidental. If one is talking or writing—be it in academia or in popular media—about questions of ethics, for example, quoting solely occidental terminology, texts, and authors, commonly one does not feel the need to call the outcome western or occidental ethics—although is this exactly what she or he does. The outcome will simply be termed Ethics , without further specification. On the other hand, if somebody in approaching ethical issues alludes only to terms stemming from, say, African, Chinese, or Islamic etc. lore, that is: from non- occidental traditions, the outcome is inevitably qualified as being African , Chinese , or Islamic etc. ethics. The same holds true of other fields of philosophy, and surprisingly enough even of the History of Philosophy. It seems to somehow sound normal to treat occidental philosophy under the heading of Philosophy , while other traditions, even if treated in detail, need to be subsumed under World Philosophies . Although a regional-cultural marker seems unnecessary, actually redundant for some people, in the first case, it seems definitely necessary, at least to be expected, in the other cases. Even if assumed to be normal , such linguistic behavior is certainly not natural . It does not reflect the differentiated past—and present—of philosophical thinking of humankind.
    [Show full text]