Ethical foundations of the left

[Peter Kosenko]

In what sense do you mean that pragmatists are
skeptics?  One might say that there is a quality
of common-sense realism about many of the
philosophers who began what we call pragmatism. 
For example, Pierce argues that if there is not a
reason for disbelieving our experience, we have
every pragmatic reason to believe it, until our
experience and interaction with the world
contradict our beliefs and we have to
reconceptualize.  Someone on another list pointed
out the respect in which Pierce held Scottish
common-sense philosopher Thomas Reid, who attacked
Hume's idea that experience is "reflected" in our
"minds" as "images" and is hence inherently
unreliable (even causally disconnected).  He held
that our perceptual experience just IS our
experience, and there is no need for the special
translation into the register of "mental images." 
In other words, Reid was skeptical of Hume's
skepticism.  And so, I believe, was Pierce.  And
one isn't going to find many pragmatists defending
Descartes' brand of skepticism.

Of course, what Pierce means by "belief" isn't the
same as what theologians mean by it.

Maybe you were thinking of Rorty or Wittgenstein
or someone else.

By the way, I'm not an academically trained
philosopher, so answers that take that into
account would be helpful.

Peter Kosenko

Luke Benjamin Weiger wrote:
> 
> > Another point, is that assuming that Justin has represented
> > Posner's position correctly, then he sounds suspiciously
> > like a pomo.  Many other pomos have drawn upon views
> > akin to Duhemian holism to justify a relativist epistemology,
> > in ways that Quine would most certainly have disapproved.
> >
> > Jim F.
> 
> Justin has indeed accurately represented Posner's positions.  However,
> pragmatism is much more sophisticated than post-modernism in that its best
> thinkers are in the mode of the classic skeptics: they employ powerful
> analytical arguments to undermine argument itself.
> 
> -- Luke

-- 
=============================================================
Peter Kosenko
Email: mailto:kosenko at netwood.net
URL: http://www.netwood.net/~kosenko
=============================================================
"Man is a rational animal.  He can think up a
reason for anything he wants to
believe."--Benjamin Franklin