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selected under the influence of a local culture. Societies in which a small and leisured
elite dominated the majority—such as slave-based ancient societies and patronage-
driven early-modern ones—accorded higher dignity to theory over practice. Dualities
of this sort tend to persist long after the disappearance of factors that had brought
about their adoption. Failure to revise simplifying assumptions is a related problem.
Results obtained
synchronously
—at a single instant, as in a photograph—are gener-
ally quite different from results that would have been obtained by
diachronic
investigation—considering time-variation.
The quest for
true and certain
knowledge (
'
the epistemology problem
'
) has been
a usual feature of ancient, medieval, and modern conceptual systems (Dewey
2012
,
130 ff). Both Ren´ Descartes and John Locke sought to ground their systems on
bedrock. Immanuel Kant
s
transcendental a priori
aimed to provide a firm basis
for timeless truth. George Hegel substituted diachronic notions for synchronic ones,
but retained
'
Following Peirce, pragmatists deny that any conceivable
description of the world could possibly be complete and accurate enough to be
adequate for
any and all
purposes. There is no
the absolute.
'
'
God
s-Eye View
.
On that basis,
'
'
'
pragmatists reject Kant
and the related notions of
ontological and epistemological descriptions (how things are versus how things
appear to be). Certainly, accounts could consider underlying mechanisms or not,
and could be more or less adequate with respect to a specific goal of inquiry—but
there is no
fully-adequate
(
s notion of
the-thing-in-itself
'
'
'
ontological
) description.
'
'
6.3
Inquiry as Evolutionary Adaptation
Human knowledge is connected with effective action. Some understandings foster
successful action, others lead to failure.
The Pragmatic Maxim
connects many
aspects of Pragmatism.
Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the
object of our conception to have. Then our conception of these effects is the whole of our
conception of the object (CP 5.402).
3
Pragmatists point out that we learn about the world we inhabit—and also about
our own capabilities and limitations—by interacting with and exploiting our sur-
roundings, including members of our own species. Other animals sometimes
modify
objects to increase their usefulness: humans have developed such
abilities to high levels (e.g., pharmaceutical chemistry, nano-electronics, behavioral
conditioning). We flourish through cooperation—and also through competition.
Language
fosters cooperative action by persuasion, blandishment, or threat—and
thereby facilitates success in inter-group competition. Successful actions and strat-
egies become habitual. Each human grouping has a complex
culture
made up of
shared habits—including language, tool-use, and communal ritual.
found
'
'
3
This reference is to paragraph 402 in volume 5 of
The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Pierce
.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (1931-1935, 1958), also published electronically.
