Pragmatismo Y Metaf Clas7a05[1]

Pragmatism: metaphysics is meaningful only if it has practical consequences

William James (1842-1910)

What we mean by reality is the product of our ideas and ideals, all of which are creative solutions to practical problems

John Dewey (1859-1952)

Logical Positivism: Metaphysics is Meaningless • Statements are meaningful only if they are analytic (tautologies, true/false by definition) or empirical (based on experience)

A. J. Ayer (1910-89)

– Objection: this principle is neither, so it is meaningless

• Because metaphysical, aesthetic, theological and ethical statements are neither tautologies nor statements of fact, they are meaningless (or express only a feeling or emotion, not some truth) – Objection: we really don’t believe this

Anti-realism: objects in the world depend on how they are described or perceived • Postmodernism: the features of reality depend on language. Different (e.g., feminine) languages or ways of thinking identify different realities – Objection 1: this makes all realities (even sexist ones) equally valid and not open to critique – Objection 2: our descriptions of reality might vary, but not reality itself: otherwise, we could not talk about the “same” thing