Naturalized Epistemology And/As Historicism: a Brief Introduction

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Naturalized Epistemology And/As Historicism: a Brief Introduction Journal of the Philosophy of History 6 (2012) 299–303 brill.com/jph Naturalized Epistemology and/as Historicism: A Brief Introduction Mark Bevir Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA [email protected] Herman Paul Department of History, Leiden University, the Netherlands [email protected] From its very beginning, naturalized epistemology has been associated with the specter of relativism. From the days of W.V.O. Quine onwards, attempts to naturalize epistemology – that is, attempts to treat (philosophical) theo- ries of knowledge as continuous with other (scientifijic) theories about the workings of the world – have been criticized for their potentially relativistic implications. Scientifijic theories, after all, are subject to all sorts of change: they can be revised in the lights of new insights, adjusted to new fijindings, or at some point discarded as falsifijied. If epistemological claims are theo- ries of knowledge in much the same way that scientifijic explanations are theories – that is, not a priori truths, but a posteriori hypotheses formulated in an attempt at explaining the world – then must such epistemological theories also be regarded as subject to historical change? Do epistemolo- gies change, grow, develop, and evolve just like scientifijic theories? Much of the fear expressed in these questions stemmed from commit- ment to a type of “fijirst philosophy” that considered itself to be elevated above the stream of history. That should come as no surprise: charges of rel- ativism are often articulated by those who are most anxious not to drown in a “morass of history,” or, in less metaphorical language, most fearful of the contingencies and exigencies of history. As Richard J. Bernstein and others have shown, “relativism” and “objectivism” are closely related, not only in so far as the former position rejects the latter, but also in so far as the for- mer (relativism) is what those committed to the latter (objectivism) most © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/18722636-12341234 300 M. Bevir, H. Paul / Journal of the Philosophy of History 6 (2012) 299–303 desperately seek to avoid. Fear of relativism, then, often stems from what Bernstein calls the “Cartesian anxiety.” Those who, like René Descartes, hope to fijind “some fijixed point, some stable rock” for their epistemological projects, are inevitably plagued by the specter of historical change – “the dread or madness and chaos where nothing is fijixed, where we can neither touch bottom nor support ourselves on the surface.”1 Almost thirty years after Bernstein’s analysis, this clash between objec- tivists and relativists, so prevalent in the 1980s, has lost much of its appeal. The objectivist position typical of the kind of philosophy that naturalized epistemology sought to query has few defenders anymore, primarily (though not exclusively) because the either/or logic that underlay the Car- tesian anxiety has efffectively been challenged on postfoundationalist grounds. Postfoundationalism does not imply, however, that the aforemen- tioned question about historical change – to what extent do epistemologi- cal theories change just as scientifijic theories do? – can be put aside. Although, on postfoundationalist premises, both the search for a supra- historical Archimedean point and the corresponding fear of “madness and chaos” no longer make sense, there are still the questions of to what extent, in what way, and with what results natural epistemologists see theories of knowledge as changing over time. In this issue, we should like to raise this question, no longer in terms of relativism, but rather in terms of historicism. Although historicism, apart from being a period and style concept,2 has sometimes been used as syn- onymous to relativism, and therefore been attacked by the same “fijirst phi- losophers” who bitterly complained about relativism,3 historicism has traditionally served as a diffferent type of warning sign. Especially in the many contentious early and mid twentieth-debates known as the Krise des Historismus, historicism usually served as a marker of excess. What many European thinkers at that time experienced as threatening was not histori- cal change as such, but rather an overload of it. The problem they perceived was that the “stream of history” became a “flood,” or that a slowly flowing 1) Richard J. Bernstein, Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxis (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), p. 18. 2) One recent example is Frederick C. Beiser, The German Historicist Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). 3) A typical instance is that of Carl Page, Philosophical Historicism and the Betrayal of First Philosophy (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995)..
Recommended publications
  • Beyond Skepticism Foundationalism and the New Fuzziness: the Role of Wide Reflective Equilibrium in Legal Theory Robert Justin Lipkin
    Cornell Law Review Volume 75 Article 2 Issue 4 May 1990 Beyond Skepticism Foundationalism and the New Fuzziness: The Role of Wide Reflective Equilibrium in Legal Theory Robert Justin Lipkin Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert Justin Lipkin, Beyond Skepticism Foundationalism and the New Fuzziness: The Role of Wide Reflective Equilibrium in Legal Theory , 75 Cornell L. Rev. 810 (1990) Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol75/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornell Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BEYOND SKEPTICISM, FOUNDATIONALISM AND THE NEW FUZZINESS: THE ROLE OF WIDE REFLECTIVE EQUILIBRIUM IN LEGAL THEORY Robert Justin Liphint TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................. 812 I. FOUNDATIONALISM AND SKEPTICISM ..................... 816 A. The Problem of Skepticism ........................ 816 B. Skepticism and Nihilism ........................... 819 1. Theoretical and PracticalSkepticism ................ 820 2. Subjectivism and Relativism ....................... 821 3. Epistemic and Conceptual Skepticism ................ 821 4. Radical Skepticism ............................... 822 C. Modified Skepticism ............................... 824 II. NEW FOUNDATIONALISM
    [Show full text]
  • View from the Archimedean Point
    View from the Archimedean Point Susanne Kass Degree Thesis for Entrepreneurship in the Arts, Master of Culture and Art Master Degree Programme in Culture and Art Novia University of Applied Sciences Jakobstad 2016, Finland MASTER’S THESIS Author: Susanne Kass Degree Programme: Master of Culture and Arts Specialization: Entrepreneurship in the Arts Supervisors: Power Ekroth and Emma Westerlund Title: View from the Archimedean point ________________________________________________________ Date: 13.4.2016 Appendices: 2 Number of pages: 71 ________________________________________________________ Summary View from the Archimedean Point attempts to develop a method of reading art which draws on the ​ ​ theories of vision initiated by ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes and developed by Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition. Archimedes speculated that if he could find solid ground on which ​ ​ to stand and a long lever that he could shift the Earth. From this place he would also have a view of totality removed and distinguishable from the view allowed by his regular human capacities. Arendt developed this idea in relation to Descartes and the modern viewpoint which is assisted by technology. Here I attempt to outline the ways that artistic practice is connected to the human condition and how art has been affected by the many advancements in technology in both a practical and abstract sense. Digital tools may be useful but they can also radically affect values systems related to economic but also social and cultural value. By outlining some of the mechanisms which allow these shifts to occur and showing how images and ideas have functioned as Archimedean points in the past, I hope that it will give a basis for the model of using the Archimedean point as a tool for reading and thinking about art, which are then presented in applied examples from my own work in the appendices.
    [Show full text]
  • New Archimedean Point for Intelligence and Foreign Policy - Reflexivity, Complexity & Culture
    New Archimedean Point for Intelligence and Foreign Policy - Reflexivity, Complexity & Culture Lowell F. Christy Jr. Ph.D. Cultural Strategies Institute The talk/paper will expose the narrow epistemological foundations of current embodiments in Intelligence and Foreign Policy that results in Intelligence Failure, Blowback and Policy Missteps. Through the lens of the seven "sins" of omission or commission underlying current institutionalized concepts of art/craft of intelligence and formation/execution of foreign policy, the paper will propose HOW reflexivity, complexity and culture can overcome our epistemic malaise. The structure of the argument is based on case studies of METHODS for the use of mind resulting in a proposed TOOL KIT for establishing SUPPLY CHAINS of data, information, knowledge & wisdom (DIKW) that could rise to the mantle of "intelligence." There is an epistemological (science of knowing) revolution brewing in the worlds of intelligence and foreign policy. Paradigms of the past of what constitutes intelligence and how we perceive and interact with the "Other." are now counter productive. A breed of "warriors of the mind" are basing change on a new relationship between epistemology and ecology systems – an ecology of minds. Instead of the touch stones of truth based on being outside the system (God, Form, Reason, Science), intelligence is now being redefined as fields of self organizing, information processing organisms/organizations. What will the new intelligence and foreign policy look like? An Archimedean point (Punctum Archimedis")is a hypothetical perspective from which an observer can objectively perceive the subject of inquiry, with a view to the totality. The method of "removing oneself" from the object of study so that one can see it in relations to all other things has characterized Western thought from the Greeks, Medieval Europe, Western Enlightenment right up to the ways our intelligence agencies and foreign policy is conducted.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy 427 Intuitions and Philosophy
    Philosophy 427 Intuitions and Philosophy Russell Marcus Hamilton College Fall 2009 Class 2: Foundationalism Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2009, Slide 1 Two foundationalist projects in the modern era P Rationalism, epitomized by Descartes P Empiricism, epitomized by Locke and Hume Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2009, Slide 2 Descartes’s Meditations P Three skeptical hypotheses < Sense illusion < Dreaming < Demon deceiver P A “single Archimedean point”: knowledge of his mind: “I am, I exist, as long as I am thinking.” P God’s existence P A method of securing all the rest of his knowledge, ensured by the goodness of God P The rest of the details < the new Galilean science < some orthodox religious beliefs Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2009, Slide 3 The synthetic presentation P Based on Euclid’s Elements < foundational claims in geometry gain universal agreement < metaphysical foundations are less obvious to the folk P The Elements < definitions: mainly unproblematic < five more general logical axioms, or common notions – not in question in geometry – In metaphysics, they are more contentious < five geometric postulates < The remaining propositions Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2009, Slide 4 The parallel postulate P If a straight line falling on two straight a lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, b the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on a+b < ð which are the angles less than the two right angles. P Playfair’s postulate: given a line, and a point not on that line, there exists exactly one line which passes through the given point parallel to the given line.
    [Show full text]
  • 6. the Cogito
    6. The Cogito • Procedural Work and Assessment • The Cartesian Background • Merleau-Ponty: the ‘tacit’ cogito Assessment • Procedural work: Friday Week 8 (Spring) – A draft/essay plan (up to 1500 words) • Tutorials: Week 10 (Spring) • Assessed work: Monday Week 2 (Summer) • Word limits – Second years: 2000-3000 – Third years: 3000-4000 – DO NOT EXCEED!!! Marking Criteria Mark 80 ! 100 Exceptional and outstanding work that presents original ideas which are clearly worked out and set in the context of a well-understood philosophical debate. 70 " 79 Excellent work that presents the issues clearly and accurately, which shows evidence of independent thought and critical reflection on the module material, and which displays a sophisticated grasp of the subtleties of the philosophical debate. 60 " 69 Good work that presents philosophical views and problems in an accurate and well- organized way, and which shows a solid grasp of the main issues and an ability to exercise philosophical judgment. 50"59 Satisfactory work that shows understanding of the main issues and familiarity with a decent range of module material. 40"49 Work that adequately presents a l imited range of relevant module material in a structured way. 35"39 Work that shows some understanding of a limited range of module material. 0 " 3 4 Work that shows little or no understanding of the basic issues covered in t he module material. Resources • Bibliographies – Module Outline and last slide of each lecture – Philosopher’s Index, available via the library’s website: http://www.york.ac.uk/library/subjects/philosophy.htm
    [Show full text]
  • Justin Broackes Selected Publications
    Justin Broackes July 1999 – Associate Professor of Philosophy, Brown University Before coming to Brown in 1992, I was a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. I have been Visiting Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford (2000-2001); Visiting Professor, École Normale Supérieure, Paris; and I have been attached to the Institut Jean Nicod, CNRS, Paris (2003-2004). I am an Associate of the Vision Research Lab in the Harvard Psychology Department and a Member of the Center for Vision Research at Brown. Selected Publications Collection of Essays: Iris Murdoch, Philosopher: Essays by John Bayley, Iris Murdoch and 12 other contributors, with a ~100-page Introduction by Justin Broackes—(Oxford University Press, forthcoming) Articles and Essays in Books: ‘The Autonomy of Colour’, in D. Charles and K. Lennon, eds., Reduction, Explanation, and Realism (Oxford University Press, 1992), 421-65. —Reprinted in A. Byrne & D. Hilbert, eds., Readings on Color (MIT Press, 1997). ‘Hume’, ‘Jaundice’, ‘Backgammon’, ‘Reason as Slave of the Passions’, ‘Oar in Water’, ‘Clocks’, ‘Cement of the Universe’, ‘Hume’s Fork’, in T. Honderich, ed., Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford, 1995), 74, 128, 137-8, 285, 377-81, 428, 631, 748. —‘Hume’ article Revised for 2nd edition (Oxford, 2005). ‘Extrinsic and Intrinsic Properties’, ‘Colors’, in D. M. Borchert, ed., Encyclopedia of Philosophy Supplement (Macmillan, 1996), 83-85, 170-71. ‘Hume’ (longer version of article in Oxford Companion to Philosophy), in T. Honderich, ed., Great Western Philosophers (Oxford, 1999). ‘Hume, Belief and Personal Identity’, in P. Millican, ed., Reading Hume on Human Understanding: Essays on the First Enquiry (Oxford University Press, 2002), 187-210.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhetorical Humanism Vs. Object-Oriented
    5KHWRULFDO+XPDQLVPYV2EMHFW2ULHQWHG2QWRORJ\ 7KH(WKLFVRI$UFKLPHGHDQ3RLQWVDQG/HYHUV ,UD$OOHQ SubStance, Volume 43, Number 3, 2014 (Issue 135), pp. 67-87 (Article) 3XEOLVKHGE\8QLYHUVLW\RI:LVFRQVLQ3UHVV DOI: 10.1353/sub.2014.0041 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/sub/summary/v043/43.3.allen.html Access provided by Indiana University Libraries (22 Nov 2014 01:23 GMT) CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE SPECIAL ISSUE Rhetorical Humanism vs. Object- Oriented Ontology: The Ethics of Archimedean Points and Levers Ira Allen Archimedes of Syracuse has long provided a touchstone for con- sidering how we make and acquire knowledge. Since the early Roman chroniclers of Archimedes’ life, and especially intensively since Descartes, scholars have described, sought, or derided the Archimedean point, defining and redefining its epistemic role. “Knowledge,” at least within modernity, is rhetorically tied to the figure of the Archimedean point, a place somewhere outside a regular and constrained world of experience. If this figure still leads to useful ways of thinking about knowing, we are left with the question of how different modes of making knowledge approach their “Archimedean” points. The question is especially important today as a renewed ontological enthusiasm sweeps through humanities disciplines that have grown wary, perhaps rightly, of epistemological skepticism. I distinguish here between epistemic approaches that focus on the firm ground of the Archimedean point, offering certitude à la Descartes, and approaches more oriented, like Archimedes himself, toward assemblages where “knower,” point, and lever are mutually implied. These approaches, elaborated in more detail below, comprise two opposing epistemic styles: a lever-oriented approach tends to foster an uncertainty with positive ethico-political implications and a point-oriented approach tends to foreclose it.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy 427 Intuitions and Philosophy
    Philosophy 427 Intuitions and Philosophy Russell Marcus Hamilton College Fall 2011 Class 2: Foundationalism Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2011, Slide 1 Presentations Email me four choices (in order) after class. Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2011, Slide 2 An Epistemological Problem 1. Beliefs must be justified either foundationally or coherently. 2. No beliefs can be justified foundationally. 3. No beliefs can be justified coherently. 4. Some of our beliefs are justified. Uh-oh. Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2011, Slide 3 Two Foundationalist Projects in the Modern Era P Rationalism, epitomized by Descartes < to secure knowledge on the basis of human reasoning P Empiricism, epitomized by Locke and Hume < to secure knowledge on the basis of human sense experience Marcus, Intuitions and Philosophy, Fall 2011, Slide 4 Analysis and Synthesis P “Analysis shows the true way by which a thing has been discovered methodically, and, as it were, “a priori,” so that were the reader willing to follow it and to pay sufficient attention to everything, he will no less perfectly understand a thing and render it his own than had he himself discovered it. However, analysis possesses nothing with which to compel belief in a less attentive or hostile reader, for if he fails to pay attention to the least thing among those that this mode [ratio] proposes, the necessity of its conclusions is not apparent; and it often hardly touches at all on many things that nevertheless ought to be carefully noted, since they are obvious to anyone
    [Show full text]
  • Some Key Arguments from Meditations III-V
    Some key arguments from Meditations III-V I. THIRD MEDITATION: The existence of God A. Cosmological proof of the Existence of God In the 3rd Meditation, Descartes attempts to prove that God (i) exists, (ii) is the cause of the essence of the meditator (i.e. the author of his nature as a thinking thing), and (iii) the cause of the meditator’s existence (both as creator and conserver, i.e. the cause that keeps him in existence from one moment to the next). The proof that God exists premises that each of us understand the following clear and distinct idea of God: Definition. “By ‘God’ I mean the very being the idea of whom is within me, that is, the possessor of all the perfections which I cannot grasp, but can somehow reach in my thought, who is subject to no defects whatsoever.” Without entering into the details of the proof, Descartes’s objective is to demonstrate that this idea can have no other cause than God. Some of the main features of the proof are the following: —The proof is cosmological because it is an inference from a given effect (here the idea of God) to the existence of God as the cause of that effect, and proceeds by showing that every other possible cause is inadequate. It contrasts with the ontological proof of the Fifth Meditation in which Descartes argues from the essence of God, as a being possessed of all perfections, to the existence of God (on the ground that existence too must be accounted a perfection, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Naturalized Epistemology the Construction of Normativity
    Naturalized Epistemology and The Construction of Normativity Karyn L. Freedman A thesis submitted in conformity with the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Philosophy University of Toronto @ Copyright by Karyn L. Freedman (2001) National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 WelIington Street 395. nie Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON KI A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distnbute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/f&n, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Nahrralized Epistemokgy and the Construction of Normutivity. Doctor of Philosophy, 200 1, Karyn L. Freednan, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto. Abs tract Naturalized epistemology gives epistemic priority to the question, 'why do people hold the beliefs that they do?', and it asks us to recognize that we can't hope to answer this question unless we look at the context in which beliefs are held.
    [Show full text]
  • The Strategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School March 2018 The trS ategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress Dahlia Guzman University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Epistemology Commons, and the Philosophy of Science Commons Scholar Commons Citation Guzman, Dahlia, "The trS ategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress" (2018). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7626 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Strategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding’s Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress by Dahlia Guzman A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Alex Levine, Ph.D. Stephen Turner, Ph.D. Joanne Waugh, Ph.D. Wei Zhang, Ph.D. Date of Approval: February 22, 2018 Keywords: Quine, feminist philosophy of science, feminist epistemology, critical theory Copyright © 2018, Dahlia Guzman ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is a culmination of sorts, but I believe it is more aptly described as another harvest for me. I’ve learned so much. Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Alex Levine for his good humor, hard work, and patience.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. Deel 1. the Necessary Presuppositions of Philosophy
    A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. Deel 1. The Necessary Presuppositions of Philosophy H. Dooyeweerd Vertaald door: William S. Young en David H. Freeman bron H. Dooyeweerd, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought. Deel 1. The Necessary Presuppositions of Philosophy (vert. William S. Young en David H. Freeman). The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, z.p. 1969 (2de druk) Zie voor verantwoording: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/dooy002newc05_01/colofon.php © 2013 dbnl / erven H. Dooyeweerd, William S. Young, David H. Freeman i.s.m. V Foreword (abreviated) to the first edition The appearance of this first systematic presentation of my philosophy fills me with a deep sense of appreciation to God for the strength He granted me to overcome innumerable difficulties. I would also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Board of Directors of the Dr Kuyper Foundation (Kuyperstichting) whose support made the publication of this work possible. The first rudimental conception of this philosophy had ripened even before I came to the Kuyper-foundation (1921). Originally I was strongly under the influence first of the Neo-Kantian philosophy, later on of HUSSERL's phenomenology. The great turning point in my thought was marked by the discovery of the religious root of thought itself, whereby a new light was shed on the failure of all attempts, including my own, to bring about an inner synthesis between the Christian faith and a philosophy which is rooted in faith in the self-sufficiency of human reason. I came to understand the central significance of the ‘heart’, repeatedly proclaimed by Holy Scripture to be the religious root of human existence.
    [Show full text]