Pragmatism Without Method?
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Some Strands of Wittgenstein's Normative Pragmatism
Some Strands of Wittgenstein’s Normative Pragmatism, and Some Strains of his Semantic Nihilism ROBERT B. BRANDOM ABSTRACT WORK TYPE In this reflection I address one of the critical questions this monograph is Article about: How to justify proposing yet another semantic theory in the light of Wittgenstein’s strong warnings against it. I see two clear motives for ARTICLE HISTORY Wittgenstein’s semantic nihilism. The first one is the view that philosophical Received: problems arise from postulating hypothetical entities such as ‘meanings’. To 27–January–2018 dissolve the philosophical problems rather than create new ones, Wittgenstein Accepted: suggests substituting ‘meaning’ with ‘use’ and avoiding scientism in philosophy 3–March–2018 together with the urge to penetrate in one's investigation to unobservable depths. I believe this first motive constitutes only a weak motive for ARTICLE LANGUAGE Wittgenstein’s quietism, because there are substantial differences between English empirical theories in natural sciences and semantic theories in philosophy that KEYWORDS leave Wittgenstein’s assimilation of both open to criticism. But Wittgenstein is Meaning and Use right, on the second motive, that given the dynamic character of linguistic Hypothetical Entities practice, the classical project of semantic theory is a disease that can be Antiscientism removed or ameliorated only by heeding the advice to replace concern with Semantic Nihilism meaning by concern with use. On my view, this does not preclude, however, a Linguistic Dynamism different kind of theoretical approach to meaning that avoids the pitfalls of the Procrustean enterprise Wittgenstein complained about. © Studia Humanitatis – Universidad de Salamanca 2019 R. Brandom (✉) Disputatio. Philosophical Research Bulletin University of Pittsburgh, USA Vol. -
A Priori Rules: Wittgenstein on the Normativity of Logic
A Priori Rules: Wittgenstein on the Normativity of Logic Peter Railton The University of Michigan Introduction Like many, I have long been uneasy with the category of the a priori. Perhaps I have simply misunderstood it. It has seemed to me, at any rate, that asserting a claim or principle as a priori is tantamount to claiming that we would be justified in ruling out alternatives in advance, no matter what the future course of experience might hold. Yet in my own case, I have felt it would be mere bluffing were I to lodge such a claim. I certainly could not discover in myself any sense of the requisite authority, nor even any clear idea of where to look for guidance in forming it. Contemplating widely-used examples of "propositions true a priori" did not remove my worry. For a start, there was the shadow of history. A claim like "logical truth is a priori" or "the attribution of rationality is a priori in intentional explanation" kept sounding, to my ears, as if they echoed "the Euclidean geometry of space is a priori" or "the principle of sufficient reason is a priori in physical explanation". And these echoes awakened just sort of the worry that had initially unsettled me: I would pronouce myself satisfied that certain claims, at least, were safe from the threat of contrary experience, just on the eve of developments in our on-going view of the world that would lead a sensible person to want to reopen the question. So I would emerge looking like the (perhaps apocryphal) fellow who claimed, in the wake of the great inventions of the nineteenth century, that the US Patent Office could now be closed, since all the really new ideas had been used up. -
Newton.Indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 14:45 | Pag
omslag Newton.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 14:45 | Pag. 1 e Dutch Republic proved ‘A new light on several to be extremely receptive to major gures involved in the groundbreaking ideas of Newton Isaac Newton (–). the reception of Newton’s Dutch scholars such as Willem work.’ and the Netherlands Jacob ’s Gravesande and Petrus Prof. Bert Theunissen, Newton the Netherlands and van Musschenbroek played a Utrecht University crucial role in the adaption and How Isaac Newton was Fashioned dissemination of Newton’s work, ‘is book provides an in the Dutch Republic not only in the Netherlands important contribution to but also in the rest of Europe. EDITED BY ERIC JORINK In the course of the eighteenth the study of the European AND AD MAAS century, Newton’s ideas (in Enlightenment with new dierent guises and interpre- insights in the circulation tations) became a veritable hype in Dutch society. In Newton of knowledge.’ and the Netherlands Newton’s Prof. Frans van Lunteren, sudden success is analyzed in Leiden University great depth and put into a new perspective. Ad Maas is curator at the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the Netherlands. Eric Jorink is researcher at the Huygens Institute for Netherlands History (Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences). / www.lup.nl LUP Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. 1 Newton and the Netherlands Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. 2 Newton and the Netherlands.indd | Sander Pinkse Boekproductie | 16-11-12 / 16:47 | Pag. -
Using the Scientific Method
Using the Scientific Method 2002 and 2014 GED Content Area: Science Focus: Scientific Method (2002) and Scientific Hypothesis and Investigation(2014) Activity Type: Graphic Organizer and GED Practice Objectives Students will be able to: Appreciate the purpose of the Scientific Method Understand key terms related to the Scientific Method: observation, hypothesis, test, experiment, result, conclusion Relate the Scientific Method to an experiment Answer GED questions based on the Scientific Method Directions 1. Print the handout “Using the Scientific Method” (next page). Pass out the handout to the class. 2. Explain that the scientific method is the way scientists learn about the world around us. This involves several steps, often in the form of experiments. Discuss the 5 steps in the chart on the handout and define the highlighted words. 3. Have a student or students read the first passage out loud. Ask the class to fill in the chart. They can fill in the chart individually or in pairs (discussing these concepts can help students develop their thinking skills). 4. Discuss the students’ answers. Samples: 1. Observation: Where there was Penicillium mold, there were also dead bacteria. 2. Hypothesis: The mold must produce a chemical that kills the bacteria. 3. Test: Grow more of the mold separately and then return it to the bacteria. 4. Result: When the material is returned to the mold, the bacteria died. 5. Conclusion: Penicillium kills bacteria. 5. Have students read the passage at the bottom of the page and answer the GED practice question. Choice (4) is correct because the doctor saw that when the chickens ate whole‐grain rice with thiamine, they did not have the disease. -
A Brief Look at Mathematics and Theology Philip J
Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal Issue 27 Article 14 Winter 1-1-2004 A Brief Look at Mathematics and Theology Philip J. Davis Brown University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj Part of the Logic and Foundations of Mathematics Commons, Mathematics Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Davis, Philip J. (2004) "A Brief Look at Mathematics and Theology," Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal: Iss. 27, Article 14. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj/vol1/iss27/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 A Brief Look at Mathematics and Theology Philip J. Davis "Such a really remarkable discovery. I wanted your opinion on it. You know the formula m over naught equals infinity, m being any positive number? [m/0 = ]. Well, why not reduce the equation to a simpler form by multiplying both sides by naught? In which case you have m equals infinity times naught [m = x 0]. That is to say, a positive number is the product of zero and infinity. Doesn't that demonstrate the creation of the Universe by an infinite power out of nothing? Doesn't it?" Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point, (1928), Chapter XI. I Introduction We are living in a mathematical age. Our lives, from the personal to the communal, from the communal to the international, from the biological and physical to the economic and even to the ethical, are increasingly mathematicized. -
Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research Communication Studies, Department of Spring 4-12-2011 Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement Brent Yergensen University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Yergensen, Brent, "Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement" (2011). Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT by Brent Yergensen A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Communication Studies Under the Supervision of Dr. Ronald Lee Lincoln, Nebraska April, 2011 ii SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT Brent Yergensen, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2011 Advisor: Ronald Lee String theory is argued by its proponents to be the Theory of Everything. It achieves this status in physics because it provides unification for contradictory laws of physics, namely quantum mechanics and general relativity. While based on advanced theoretical mathematics, its public discourse is growing in prevalence and its rhetorical power is leading to a scientific revolution, even among the public. -
Natural Science 1
Natural Science 1 Required Courses NATURAL SCIENCE Select 18 units from the following: 18 AGRI 0198 Food, Society and the Environment Contact Information AGRI 0221 Introduction to Soil Science ANTH 0001 Physical Anthropology Division ANTH 0001L Physical Anthropology Laboratory Sciences and Mathematics ANTH 0010 Introduction to Forensic Anthropology Dean ASTR 0002 Introduction to Planetary Systems Heather Roberts ASTR 0005 Introduction to Stars, Galaxies, and the Associate Dean Universe Karen Warburton ASTR 0007 Life in the Universe Division Office ASTR 0010 Elementary Astronomy V 211, Rocklin Campus ASTR 0011 Observational Astronomy ASTR 0014 Astrophotography and Imaging Overview ASTR 0025 Frontiers in Astronomy Courses from the following departments are included in the BIOL 0001 General Biology interdisciplinary Natural Science associate degree: BIOL 0002 Botany BIOL 0003 General Zoology • Agriculture BIOL 0004 Microbiology • Anthropology BIOL 0005 Human Anatomy • Astronomy BIOL 0006 Human Physiology • Biological Sciences BIOL 0007A Human Anatomy I • Chemistry BIOL 0007B Human Anatomy II • Earth Science BIOL 0008A Microbiology I • Environmental Studies and Sustainability BIOL 0008B Microbiology II • Geography BIOL 0010 Introduction to Biology • Mathematics BIOL 0011 Concepts of Biology • Physics BIOL 0014 Natural History, Ecology and • Psychology Conservation (also ESS 0014) BIOL 0015 Marine Biology Degrees/Certificates BIOL 0021 Introduction to Plant Science (also Natural Science AGRI 0156) AA or AS Degree BIOL 0024 Wildland Trees and Shrubs The Natural Science degree is designed for students who are pursuing (Dendrology) transfer majors in the Natural Sciences, including Astronomy, Biological BIOL 0033 Introduction to Zoology Science, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Physics and related disciplines. BIOL 0055 General Human Anatomy and In all cases, students should consult with a counselor for more Physiology information on university admission and transfer requirements. -
What's So Bad About Scientism? Moti Mizrahi Florida Institute Of
What’s so bad about Scientism? Moti Mizrahi Florida Institute of Technology Abstract: In their attempt to defend philosophy from accusations of uselessness made by prominent scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, some philosophers respond with the charge of “scientism.” This charge makes endorsing a scientistic stance a mistake by definition. For this reason, it begs the question against these critics of philosophy, or anyone who is inclined to endorse a scientistic stance, and turns the scientism debate into a verbal dispute. In this paper, I propose a different definition of scientism, and thus a new way of looking at the scientism debate. Those philosophers who seek to defend philosophy against accusations of uselessness would do philosophy a much better service, I submit, if they were to engage with the definition of scientism put forth in this paper, rather than simply make it analytic that scientism is a mistake. Keywords: inference to the best explanation; epistemological scientism; scientistic stance; success of science 1. Introduction In their attempt to defend philosophy from accusations of uselessness made by prominent scientists, such as Hawking and Mlodinow (2010, p. 5), who write that “philosophy is dead,”1 some philosophers accuse these scientists of “scientism.” According to Pigliucci (2010, p. 235), the term ‘scientism’ “is in fact only used as an insult.” By “scientism,” Pigliucci (2010, p. 235) means, “the intellectual arrogance of some scientists who think that, given enough time and especially financial resources, science will be able to answer whatever meaningful questions we may wish to pose—from a cure for cancer to the elusive equation that will tell us how the laws of nature themselves came about” (emphasis added).2 And Sorell (2013, p. -
The Scope of Hermeneutics in Natural Science
Fordham University Masthead Logo DigitalResearch@Fordham Hermeneutic and Phenomenological Philosophies Research Resources of Science 1998 The copS e of Hermeneutics in Natural Science Patrick A. Heelan Georgetown University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_research Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons, and the Philosophy of Science Commons Recommended Citation Heelan, Patrick A., "The cS ope of Hermeneutics in Natural Science" (1998). Research Resources. 12. https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_research/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Hermeneutic and Phenomenological Philosophies of Science at DigitalResearch@Fordham. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Resources by an authorized administrator of DigitalResearch@Fordham. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Preprint 1998: The Scope of Hermeneutics in Natural Science THE SCOPE OF HERMENEUTICS IN NATURAL SCIENCE PATRICK A. HEELAN Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 Abstract: Hermeneutics or interpretation is concerned with the generation, transmission, and acceptance of meaning within the lifeworld and was the original method of the human sciences stemming from F. Schleiermacher and W. Dilthey. Hermeneutic philosophy refers mostly to M. Heidegger’s. This paper addresses natural science from the perspective of Heidegger’s analysis of meaning and interpretation. Its purpose is to incorporate into the philosophy of science those aspects of historicality, culture, and tradition that are absent from the traditional analysis of theory and explanation, to re-orient the current discussion about scientific realism around the hermeneutics of meaning and truth in science, and to establish some relationship between the current philosophy of natural science and hermeneutical philosophy. -
Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience by Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 a Thesis
Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience By Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS ©Evan Westre, 2014 All Rights Reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Supervisory Committee Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience By Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 Dr. Audrey Yap: Supervisor (Department of Philosophy) Dr. Jeffrey Foss: Departmental Member (Department of Philosophy) ii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Audrey Yap: Supervisor (Department of Philosophy) Dr. Jeffrey Foss: Departmental Member (Department of Philosophy) The demarcation problem aims to articulate the boundary between science and pseudoscience. Solutions to the problem have been notably raised by the logical positivists (verificationism), Karl Popper (falsificationism), and Imre Lakatos (methodology of research programmes). Due, largely, to the conclusions drawn by Larry Laudan, in a pivotal 1981 paper which dismissed the problem of demarcation as a “pseudo-problem”, the issue was brushed aside for years. Recently, however, there has been a revival of attempts to reexamine the demarcation problem and synthesize new solutions. My aim is to survey two of the contemporary attempts and to assess these approaches over and against the broader historical trajectory of the demarcation problem. These are the efforts of Nicholas Maxwell (aim-oriented empiricism), and Paul Hoyningen-Huene (systematicity). I suggest that the main virtue of the new attempts is that they promote a self-reflexive character within the sciences. -
Natural Science and Mathematics
Associate in Science in Natural Science and PHYS 120 General Physics 1 4 Mathematics PHYS 121 General Physics 2 4 PHYS 140 Physics for Scientists & Engineers 1 4 The Natural Science and Mathematics emphasis focuses PHYS 240 Physics for Scientists & Engineers 2 4 on the study of the physical universe, its life forms, and PHYS 241 Physics for Scientists & Engineers 3 4 the relationship between science and other human activities. To fulfill the requirements for this degree, C. Biology Units students will complete the required courses and work BIOL 103 Introduction to Nutrition 3 with a counselor to determine the appropriate pattern of BIOL 105 Human Biology 4 general education courses based on the student’s BIOL 110 Survey of Biology 4 individual educational goals. BIOL 112 Introduction to Ecology 3 BIOL 117 Wildlife Biology 3 Core Requirements BIOL 120 General Biology 4 Students must complete 18 units selected from the BIOL 218 Human Anatomy 5 courses listed below, including a minimum of 3 units of BIOL 219 Human Physiology 5 Mathematics, 3 units of Physical Sciences, and 3 units of BIOL 220 General Microbiology 5 Biology. BIOL 240 General Zoology 5 BIOL 241 General Botany 5 A. Mathematics Units MATH 94 Intermediate Algebra 5 D. Area of Emphasis Elective Courses Units MATH 99 Intermediate Algebra, Part B 3 ANTH 120 Biological Anthropology 3 MATH 106 College Algebra 5 TECH 107 Technical Mathematics II 3 MATH 108 Trigonometry 3 MATH 115 Applied Calculus 5 Total Units 18 MATH 120 Calculus I 5 MATH 121 Calculus II 5 MATH 220 Linear Algebra 3 MATH 221 Multivariable Calculus 5 MATH 222 Differential Equations 3 MATH 232 Statistics 4 MATH 235 Finite Mathematics 3 B. -
The Unity of Science in Early-Modern Philosophy: Subalternation, Metaphysics and the Geometrical Manner in Scholasticism, Galileo and Descartes
The Unity of Science in Early-Modern Philosophy: Subalternation, Metaphysics and the Geometrical Manner in Scholasticism, Galileo and Descartes by Zvi Biener M.A. in Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, 2004 B.A. in Physics, Rutgers University, 1995 B.A. in Philosophy, Rutgers University, 1995 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2008 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Zvi Biener It was defended on April 3, 2008 and approved by Peter Machamer J.E. McGuire Daniel Garber James G. Lennox Paolo Palmieri Dissertation Advisors: Peter Machamer, J.E. McGuire ii Copyright c by Zvi Biener 2008 iii The Unity of Science in Early-Modern Philosophy: Subalternation, Metaphysics and the Geometrical Manner in Scholasticism, Galileo and Descartes Zvi Biener, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2008 The project of constructing a complete system of knowledge—a system capable of integrating all that is and could possibly be known—was common to many early-modern philosophers and was championed with particular alacrity by Ren´eDescartes. The inspiration for this project often came from mathematics in general and from geometry in particular: Just as propositions were ordered in a geometrical demonstration, the argument went, so should propositions be ordered in an overall system of knowledge. Science, it was thought, had to proceed more geometrico. I offer a new interpretation of ‘science more geometrico’ based on an analysis of the explanatory forms used in certain branches of geometry. These branches were optics, as- tronomy, and mechanics; the so-called subalternate, subordinate, or mixed-mathematical sciences.