Realistic Pragmatism

Nicholas Rescher is University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous works, including Predicting the Future: An Introduction to the Theory of Forecasting, Process Metaphysics: An Introduction to Process Philosophy, and Dialectics: A Controversy-Oriented Approach to the Theory of Knowledge, all published by SUNY Press.

• Preface Introduction One. Setting the Stage 1. The Historical Background2. The Diversity of Pragmatisms3. The Meaning of Pragmatism's Variations Two. Pragmatism in Crisis 1. The Guiding Idea of the Pragmatic Program2. The Jamesean Transformation and its Aftermath3. Postmodern Pragmatism and its Contrary4. A Return to the Peircean Roots5. Three Traditional Objections to Pragmatism6. The Turn to Methodological Pragmatism Three. Methodological Pragmatism in the Cognitive Domain 1. Aspects of Methodology: Teleology2. The Special Case of Cognitive Methodology: The Methodologically Pragmatic Validation of Knowledge Claims3. Why this Link Between Pragmatic Efficacy and Truthfulness?4. The Generality of the Methodological Approach Overcomes Various Objections5. How the Present Methodological Approach Contrasts with that of Peirce Four. Fallibilism and the Pragmatic Epistemology of Science 1. Monitoring the Adequacy of Science2. The Arbitrament of Praxis3. The Fallibilist Perpsective Five. Metaphysical Realism and the Pragmatic Basis of Objectivity 1. The Existential Component of Realism2. Realism in its Regulative / Pragmatic Aspect3. Realism and Objectivity as a Requisite of Communication4.Retrojustification: The Wisdom of Hindsight Six. Pragmatism and the Theory of Language: Use Conditions vs. Truth Conditions 1. Truth-Conditions vs. Use-Conditions2. The "Logic" of Use-Conditions: Pragmatics vs. Semantics3. Semantics, Pragmatics, and the Issue of Meaning4. The Duality of Truth and Usage Roots in the Cognitive Opacity of Real Things5. The Inductive Aspect6. Advantages of a Pragmatic Approach to Meaning Seven. Pragmatism and Value 1. Purposiveness and Value2. Evaluative Rationality and Appropriate Ends: Against the Humean Conception of Reason3. The Crucial Role of Interests and Needs: Wants and Preferences are not Enough4. The Pragmatic Aspect Eight. Morality, Pragmatism, and the Obligations of Personhood 1. The Functional Nature of Morality2. Is Rational Controversy About Morality Possible?3. The Ethics of Collaboration and Communication in Science as an Instance4. On the Rationale of Moral Obligation5. Obligations and Interest6. The Pragmatic Dimension Nine. Pragmatism and Philosophy 1. Against Philosophical Scepticism2. Philosophizing as Truth-Estimative Conjecture3. Pragmatism as a Via Media4. Is Circularity a Problem?5. Is Fragmentation a Problem?6. The Advantages of Realistic Over Relativistic Pragmatism7. The Complexity of Pragmatism Name Index

"This book is to be recommended for its effective portrayal of a hard-nosed objectivist, realist pragmatism." — Philosophy in Review"In the course of sketching an entire philosophy of 'methodological' pragmatism, Rescher presides over the challenging and potentially fruitful union of the pragmatic perspective with such unlikely partners as the ontological duty of self-realization. To his credit, he manages to make such weddings appear desirable and carries them off with aplomb in the name of sweet reason. I am not convinced that all these marriages can last or that they are likely to issue in happy offspring, but demonstrating that they are possible is itself a remarkable achievement. This book is a significant contribution to the literature of contemporary pragmatism." — John Lachs, author of The Relevance of Philosophy to Life"The chapters on values are the best discussion of pragmatism's attempt to deal with value in a non-relativistic way that I have seen." — Robert G. Meyers, author of The Likelihood of Knowledge"Given the philosophical sophistication and subtlety of Nicholas Rescher, this book is truly sui generis." — Vincent Colapietro, author of Peirce's Approach to the Self: A Semiotic Perspective on Human Subjectivity